The Peddler comes to Konoha
by Cartesian
Summary: He's just a creepy old man...who sells jutsu. Everybody's interested, but he doesn't take cash. I'm reviving this story after taking a break from it. Note: romantic plotlines are realistic to the manga/anime.
1. Hiru the Peddler

A/N: This story occurs during the anime "filler" episodes, sometime after the insect mission. I'll make it as long as people want it to be.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Hiru the Peddler**

Tsunade sat back in her chair, relaxing as her center of gravity shifted waaaay back. Always worth it, she told herself.

Someone knocked on the door: a curt 'I work for you' knock.

"Come in." An Anbu wearing an owl mask shuffled in, slouching. He held one arm behind his back.

"Just a bit of news," he mumbled.

"Druj, your knock makes you sound like a professional," the fifth Hokage said sharply. "Can't you look like one as well?"

"Never. Anyway, 'the peddler' just entered Konoha. Thought you'd like to know." Druj yawned suddenly. Tsunade's eyebrows rose.

"...and that is?" She didn't recognize the name.

"Oh right, you weren't here. You remember Hiru, right? He came around a couple times before, and made friends with the Third. Now people call him 'the peddler'."

"I remember Hiru. But why is he called the peddler?" In response, Druj brought his arm around from behind him, holding a folder.

"You should probably read his file. It's gotten much longer while you were away from Konoha."

She groaned. "Before I read it, tell me, is there good reason to have him brought in?"

Druj smirked. "Well, the Third didn't think so, and I kind of like him as well. Most of the village has a different opinion though."

Naruto strode down the street, arms folded behind his head and trying to get some decent shut-eye. He'd just gotten back from a D-rank mission, and he just knew the next one would be a D as well. He couldn't decide between stalling for time, taking a nap, and looking for something interesting to do. Only a genius like Naruto could get so close to doing all three at once.

"Hey, Naruto!" someone roared. and he blinked. Kiba was standing up ahead, next to a fence.

"What!? You don't have to shout!" he hollered back, strolling over and trying to wake up quickly.

"I didn't shout, the first three times I called you. Pay attention, you're a ninja!"

"Uh, sure." Naruto frowned. "So what's up?"

"Training!" Kiba grinned. "Very important training, in fact." Naruto lit up.

"What kind of training!? Tell me! I'll do it with you!"

"No, it's not something you can train." Kiba was enjoying himself.

"Why not!? You just said that's why you called me!"

"Yeah, but you're not the one I'm trying to help. Keep talking though, you're doing great."

"I am?" Naruto frowned. He was still groggy from his nap, he figured. Kiba laughed.

"Oh, hello youngsters!" a voice croaked suddenly.

"Wha!?" Naruto jumped, and spun around. A very wrinkled old man was standing right behind him, smiling through cracked lips.

"Old man! Don't scare me like that," he shouted. The man smiled, and both ninja shuddered at the effect.

"Excuse me, young man. I was just nap-walking to the Hokage's office, and I..." he trailed off, and sniffed.

"Uh...that's okay. I'm sorry for standing...there." Naruto actually was sorry.

"Ooh, what's that?" the old man's eyes widened and he started sniffing the air. "I smell the chakra of a beautiful girl. Good stuff, even to me!"

Both ninja shuddered again, especially Kiba.

"What are you talking about, old man?" Naruto just couldn't stop himself, and sniffed the air as well. "There's no way to smell chakra like that."

"Is that so? Give me a minute and I'll tell you her bloodline." the old man approached Kiba, who stood his ground for a second before nervously stepping away from the fence. The scary old man sniffed again.

"Woo! There it is! I'd say she's...a Hyuuga! Main branch, probably." He elbowed Kiba in the ribs. "Those Hyuuga girls sure are well-endowed, eh? Eh?" Kiba actually blushed slightly.

"Old man!" Naruto spoke up just as Kiba opened his mouth. "Can you really tell all that? Really?" The wrinkled face smiled again, and they both shuddered again.

"I don't know...Could there really be a beautiful Hyuuga girl around here? I'll look pretty foolish if there isn't." With that, he waddled past Kiba and around the corner.

"Bingo!" they both heard him say, followed by a strange wimper.

"Who could it be?" Naruto wondered out loud. Kiba sighed. _I feel for you, Hinata._

"Hey, it's Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed from around the corner. Kiba was almost afraid to follow them. _Poor girl._

He found Hinata, back up against the fence and whimpering miserably.

"See, what did I tell you?" the old man cackled. "A beautiful Hyuuga. What's your name, cutie?"

"I-I-I..." She looked pale.

"Hinata, what're you doing there? Why didn't you come out..." Naruto looked at the old man again. Then he leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear

"I understand. This old guy gives me the creeps too."

Hinata looked at Naruto, then Kiba, then the old man. Then she closed her eyes and sank to her knees. But she didn't faint. _The training is paying off, sort-of,_ Kiba thought.

"All right then! I'll set up just for you!" the old man announced suddenly. He reached behind him and took a scroll out of his pack, unrolling it across the ground.

"Kai!" he cried out, making a seal with his hands, and a small cart popped out of the scroll. He jumped behind it.

"Good day, would you like to make a purchase?"

"Hey, are you really from Konoha?" Naruto asked and pointed. On the front of the cart hung a flap of cloth with the leaf of Konoha on it.

"Oh, thanks for pointing that out." The old man flipped the banner around. On the other side was the symbol for the village hidden in the rain.

The two boys just stared at him.

"Now, young lady, would you like to buy anything?"

Hinata looked up at him between her fingers.

"Come join us." Kiba reached down and pulled her to her feet. "Are you feeling okay now?"

"Yeah, are you okay?" Naruto asked as well.

"U-um, y-yes." she nodded. Then they all heard a tapping sound and looked over at the old man's cart. He was looking the other way but obviously making the noise on purpose.

"Umm, w-what do you sell?" Hinata's voice was still quivering a little. The old man suddenly got a mischievous look on his face.

"I sell jutsu."

Naruto glanced at the cart, and did a double-take. It was lined with scrolls, each with a strange symbol on it.

"Pretty..." he started to drool.

"I-I'm not really..." Hinata managed. Behind her Kiba was almost drooling as well.

"Oh, there's one for you, I guarantee it. If nothing else, I have a nice love jutsu. That one's quite popular these days." His head bobbed up and down as he spoke, and he kept rubbing his hands. Hinata blushed furiously.

"Old man!" Naruto almost jumped onto the counter. "Teach me your jutsu!" The old man cackled.

"You want to learn the love jutsu, carrot-top?" This time Naruto blushed.

"No, but I want to learn the rest of them. I'll take them all!"

The old man squinted at him for a moment, looking him up and down. He sniffed.

"Come back later. Right now, I'm selling to the young lady." Naruto froze. The man turned back to Hinata.

"So, a love jutsu, was it? No, but maybe not. I know just the thing for you!" He pulled a scroll out from inside the cart. The two boys leaned forward behind Hinata, forcing her to lean as well.

"This is a rarely used combat jutsu. It allows you to run chakra through your bones, making them harder than steel. Particularly useful for Kunoichi, and if it's not for you it makes a great gift for boyfriends." They all shivered. The old man put on a high-pitched voice and continued: "If you're not doing anything tonight, I have this really neat jutsu I could teach you...out in the woods." He cackled loudly and they all groaned.

"Uh, Hinata..." the Hyuuga heard Kiba say behind her. She turned, and let out a little cry. Both boys had flames coming out of their eyes.

"I...really want that," Kiba said slowly. Naruto was next.

"Please take me out in the woods at night and teach it to me!" The old man laughed so hard he fell backwards off his stool. Hinata's lip trembled.

"Wait...Hinata?" Kiba saw it coming.

**Thump**

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Critic: The style is kind of strange, I know. I'm writing this with a mental picture of the subbed anime in my head, thinking about what the subtitles would be if they were speaking japanese. If a part doesn't make much sense, think of it as a translation issue instead of a mistake. Then, if you still think it's bad, let me know how I can improve it.


	2. The Flower Selling Flowers

**Chapter 2: The Flower Selling Flowers**

"Druj!"

"Yeah?"

"Take me to Hiru. I need to speak with him personally."

"Sure." With that, they both left the room as quickly as he had entered.

* * *

The old peddler waddled down the street, grinning from ear to ear and remembering his first sale.

"_I'll get the scroll for her, old man," Kiba had said. "How much for it?"_

"_Ooh, better watch out, carrot-top. Wolf-boy's making his move!"_

"_What do you mean?" Naruto remained clueless._

"_I'm selling this to the girl, you understand?" the peddler grinned as he handed the scroll to Kiba. "I can promise terrible things if you open it yourself."_

"_Yeah, yeah." Kiba took it, deciding at that moment not to take a peek before giving it to Hinata._

"_No money, not from a sexy customer like her! I'm sure I'll get a fortune from you two while I'm here._

_They both groaned, but both were secretly thinking of ways to make some quick money._

"_When will you sell me your jutsu, old man?" Naruto demanded._

"_I'll be back tomorrow, don't worry. Somewhere around here, I suppose. I only sell in the morning, remember that."_

_Kiba was thinking. "Old man, if the jutsu in this scroll is rare, how come you're giving it away for free?" He looked up, but the man and the cart were both gone._

"Now, to visit old man Hokage!" He kept going straight for a few more blocks, then stopped and sniffed the air.

"Ooh," he said to himself, "Old man Hokage would have to wait, if he knew I was coming." he turned and entered a flower shop.

"Good morning!" called the girl behind the counter. The old man took a step forward, tilting his head back and sniffing loudly a few times.

"I smell something wonderful!" he croaked, turning down a row. There were a handful of other customers who just looked at him and smiled. He sniffed around, passing different flowers and smelling them. Finally he turned and came up to the counter, still sniffing occasionally.

"Having trouble finding it?" she asked, smiling, "There are plenty of different flower smells in here."

"Hmm, yes there are, but this smell is different. And it's strongest when I'm standing right here."

"Eh?"

The old man leaned left, sniffed, leaned right, sniffed...leaned toward her, sniffed.

"Ah ha! I found the best flower of all!"

Ino blushed for a second, then remembered who was saying it.

"Ummm, I'm not a flower, old man." He pointed a bony finger at her.

"Now, who told you that? This old man should have a talk with them." he shrugged. "But that's okay, you can be my flower, eh?"

Ino shivered involuntarily. "Did...did you come in here to buy flowers, or not?"

"Welll..." he rubbed his hands nervously. "...no, I came in here to sell to one." She sighed.

"What do you sell?" The peddler's face lit up, and he pulled his cart out of nowhere, instantly setting it up in front of the counter.

"I sell jutsu, young lady. I'm sure I have one for a flower like yourself." Ino wasn't really interested, but she couldn't think of how to get rid of him.

"Let's see...a love jutsu? No...broom puppetry for cleaning up the shop? No...maybe something for combat, then..." the peddler tapped his chin and looked up, trying to raise thinking to an art form.

Ino's hand went to pull on her hair: she always did when she was nervous. Then she remembered that it was short now. Anyway, sooner or later he would have to give up...

"I have a hair-growing jutsu," the wrinkled old man offered.

"I'll take it!" Ino shouted, breaking out of her thoughts. Then she looked around, embarrassed. The store's patrons were watching with great interest: more than one of them tried to hide a chuckle.

"Ooh! We have a winner! A good hair-growing jutsu for the flower-selling flower." He reached down somewhere and pulled up a scroll.

"Well, I have to go! Got business with old man Hokage!" he said as he handed it to her.

"Don't you mean Tsunade?" but he was gone. "Old man? What about payment?" She thought about it for a second, then started to open the scroll.

"Ahem," a man said in front of the counter. "I'd like to buy these flowers, ma'am."

"Oh, right!" Ino threw the scroll behind her, to wait until she was done for the day.

Critic:


	3. Old man Hokage

**Chapter 3: **"**Old Man Hokage"**

Tsunade thought it over as they traveled.

_First, I'll have to break the news to him. Then I should either kick him out of Konoha, or stick one of the Anbu to him the whole time he's here. The third was just too kind-hearted, causing all these problems for me to deal with._

She sighed. Hiru hadn't done anything wrong the last time they met, which would make this even more complicated.

Beside her, Druj homed in on the peddler as was expected of him, nothing more, nothing less.

* * *

The Peddler waddled down the street, grinning ear to ear and remembering his second sale.

"Now, time to visit old man hokage!" He kept going straight for a few more blocks, then stopped and sniffed the air.

"Ooh," he said to himself, "At this rate I'll make enough sales to be able to move on in less than a week! ...Or I could hang around and gain a few pounds." he patted his stomach appreciatively.

The old man followed his nose, and it lead him around the corner, to where a pink-haired girl was buying groceries at an outside market.

"Eh heh," he chuckled to himself and bumped into her.

"HEY!" she yelled, spun around, and threatened him with a pair of fists, even though there were grocery bags hanging from them. The peddler stumbled back, waving his arms to keep from falling over.

"Oh, sorry old man. I thought you were a...um, hi."

"Strong _and _beautiful!" he crooned, catching his balance. "I wouldn't mind bumping into you again!"

_Creepy old man,_ thought Sakura. "Well, please don't, okay?" she turned around, but as she did he quickly hobbled around to get between her and the store.

"What are you doing, old man?" she asked, still trying to be nice.

"You're mad, and I'm sorry," the peddler looked down at his toes, then back up at her. "Let me make it up to you, please?"

_REEEEAAAALLY creepy old man!_ "You don't have to do anyth-" the old man had already taken out his cart. Now there was no way past him.

"I'll give you a bargain, eh? Step right up!" Sakura sighed. _He's just a salesman._

"Old man, I don't have time for this! Let me into the store!"

"Tch, perhaps you'd like a jutsu that can make you ten times stronger? Combat seems to suit you more than homemaking, I think." Sakura froze, then glared at him.

"I can give you a demonstration, if you'd like." He took a melon from its display, holding it with his two pinky fingers only. Sakura watched, interested, as he closed his eyes, concentrated, and then smashed the melon between his fingers.

"See? Very useful on a mission, you know. Used by some of the best shinobi out there, but hard to find for yourself." He bobbed up and down, excited about the sale. Sakura smirked, scornfully.

"You mean like this?" She also picked up a melon between her pinky's, watching him carefully as she smashed it.

"Oh." His expression was blank, thoughts racing. She liked him better this way, Sakura decided. Then the peddler sniffed, and reached a bony hand towards her. "May I see your hand, young lady?"

"Uh..." he snatched it before she could answer, leaned forward, and...smelled her hand. _Not cool!_ She jerked back her arm, and he smiled.

"You're a medical ninja! Well, that rules out most of my wares, doesn't it?"

"Yes, so can you leave me alone now?"

"...except one. It's a very rare and sacred jutsu. Shall I go on?"

"Not really, no." He didn't seem to care about her response.

"This jutsu is forbidden in all of the major countries, yet secretly used sometimes by the elite. If any one of them found out I'm offering it to you, it could cause a very ugly situation." He wiggled his eyebrows, and Sakura tried very hard to not be interested.

"Can you just finish your speech so I can get inside?" she asked, exasperated.

"It...well, how can I describe this jutsu? It's a very delicate but important thing."

"Old man!"

"Well, it's like this: before..." the old man said, waving his hands over his torso. "...and after!" He turned and grabbed a pair of melons, then held them in front of his chest. The message was clear.

"Uh..." Sakura just stared at him, then glanced down at herself. She really, _really_ wanted to know that 'rare and sacred' jutsu. But whatever she was about to say, she was interrupted by the arrival of the Hokage.

"There he is, Hokage-sama." Druj pointed as he landed. Normally he disappeared as soon as he wasn't needed, but this time he opted to stay, Tsunade noted. Then she saw the old man standing there.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Tsunade sensei." Sakura greeted her teacher and bowed.

The old peddler jumped, throwing the melons behind him. "Tsunade-sama!" he cried, "My old arch-nemesis!"

"What are you talking abou- ...oh, that."

"Don't you remember? My name is Hiru, and it's a pleasure to meet you again!" There was something odd in his expression.

"I see. I've read your file just now, and as the Hokage you'll need my permission to travel inside this village." The old man's expression fell.

"Did Sandaime finally retire, then? I've heard nothing from him for some time now."

"Sandaime died defending the village. And it sounds like your favor with Konoha is somewhat less without him."

"I see." The peddler didn't look as much sad as he did worried. "Well, my legs are getting more and more sensitive these days, and I think I'll find it quite impossible to aim them away from Konoha for a while. Will you drag an old man to your gates and throw him in the dust? Personally, I hope you won't."

"Sensei?" Sakura had been listening in silence. "Do you know this grandpa?"

Tsunade sighed. "He was an aquaintance of the third Hokage, and I don't know what to do with him." She then turned to her subordinate. "Druj, since you've so kindly stayed with us, I'd like you to look after Hiru here during his time in Konoha."

"Yes, sir!" Druj answered sharply. Apparently he wanted the job, or she would have never heard the end of it.

"There's no need for that, is there?" Hiru said, but his eye twinkled.

"No complaints. You're a liability to this village, and I intend to treat you like one. You're welcome to leave whenever." She turned to leave.

"Ah Tsunade-sama, can you wait a moment?" he asked.

"What is it?" She turned and saw him lean over to elbow Sakura in the ribs.

"Eh? Eh?" he pointed at the melons, then at the Hokage. Sakura's eyes widened, and she got a strange look on her face Tsunade couldn't decifer.

"You can go now, Tsunade-sama. Thank you for your time!"

"Whatever." With that, she turned and strode away.

"This is a change of plans!" the old man cried as soon as she was gone. "I'll gladly sell you the sacred jutsu later, but right this moment I must be off!"

"I-I'm not interested," Sakura managed to say as he packed up the cart.

"That's fine, fine. I'll be expecting you tomorrow, or perhaps the next day? At any rate, spend some time with your sensei before you make your decision." He winked at her, and she shuddered.

"Druj, was it? I'm afraid the rest of today will be dull for you: I'll be finding a place to nap, since Sandaime isn't here to offer me one." They started heading off together, and Sakura watched them go. _Creepy old man!_ she thought again, and went into the store.


	4. Hiru Sensei

**Chapter 4: Hiru Sensei**

"Hey, are you okay?" Kiba asked as Hinata came to.

"Yes, yes...I-I fainted again, didn't I?"

"Yeah. I went ahead and got the scroll from that old guy though."

"Maybe...you should open it."

"He said it should be you. I don't know what that old man can do, but to be safe..."

"All right. But first, what did Naruto say?"

"He just said the usual: he was worried about you, didn't know what happened." ..._Asked what's wrong with you... _he thought to himself.

"Oh...I was doing so well, too." Hinata buried her face in her hands.

"Hey, you remember what he said at the end, right? This scroll makes a nice excuse to spend some time alone with _him_." Kiba felt weird playing this role, but he knew what he was doing. She blushed.

"I could never, ever do that! It wouldn't go well, I know it wouldn't!"

"All you need to do is get into your determined mindset, like when you used your palms technique in front of him. The rest is easy," Kiba explained.

"Well..."

"Now, open the scroll and let's start learning this jutsu!" And she did.

Ino flopped down on her bed, one story above the flower shop. In her left hand she had the scroll. She felt too tired to learn anything serious, but a simple hair-growing jutsu shouldn't be a problem. She held it above her head, and unrolled it.

Nothing special happened. First, came a warning to stop opening the rest if the scroll wasn't given to you by "The Peddler." Past that was a lot of blank space, then finally some words. They said:

I-owe-U:

1 hair-growing jutsu.

Sorry, come back later!

You are: - 2nd - in line.

And the rest was blank as well.

"What's this?" she asked aloud. "It's worthless!"

Meanwhile, Hinata's message was different:

I-owe-U

1 bone-hardening jutsu.

Your training is ready to begin!

Press your hand to the symbol when you're ready.

After this was what looked like a summoning jutsu. It trailed off on the side, and seemed to go on for several feet. Right at its beginning was a large symbol, the kanji for "learning." Hinata pressed her palm to this, as directed.

Instantly the seal hissed, and several ribbons of small symbols started retracting into the central one. They were sucked in faster and faster, until a cloud of white smoke erupted from the scroll. A few seconds later, Kiba stopped coughing and realized that Hinata was gone.

She appeared in a clearing: the kind of trees told her it was just outside Konoha. She slowly turned around, checking her surroundings. Hinata was about to activate her byakugan when she heard rustling above her. A few leaves fell down on her right, and when she looked there was a dark figure standing there, wrapped from head to foot in a long black cloth.

"Ah, you're here. Let's get started then." With that, he started unwrapping the cloth. A few seconds later it fell away, and she saw that it was a teenage boy about her age. He had a shock of white hair, but strips of his skin were discolored gray: from his shoulders to his elbows, to the back edges of both hands, a ring of gray on his chest with streaks going to both shoulders, both sides, and one that went straight down and disappeared under his clothing (he was shirtless but wore baggy pants) His irises were black holes in the whites of his eyes. One final detail stuck out to her: a necklace with a little dragon pendant. The reptilian form was wrapped around a crystal, as if guarding it. It hung around his neck, resting over a small gray circle inside the gray ring, like a giant eye was looking through it at her.

"Guess I should explain," he said after thinking for a second. "The peddler doesn't sell scrolls with instructions written on them, they all have a special summoning jutsu that brings you here, so I can teach you the move. Is that okay with you?"

Hinata blushed. "Umm, I guess so. But I wasn't the one..."

"Great! What's your name?"

"Hinata...Hyuuga Hinata."

He whistled. "I see, so you have the Byakugan?" She nodded. "This'll be way easier than I thought," he concluded.

The teenager introduced himself: his name was Hiru. "That's the old guy's name too, by the way. It's confusing," he'd said

Then he walked around to stand behind her, and Hinata hesitated.

"Okay, activate your Byakugan. Then hold out both of your arms in front of you," he instructed. She did, nervously, and he reached forward from behind her and put his hands on her wrists.

"Now, I'm going to put my hands here, and manipulate your chakra the way it needs to be. You'll be able to see it happen, so it should be easy to copy." He stepped back for a second, and she heard him making seals quickly. Then he sidled up behind her, and she felt his warmth along her back. She was very uncomfortable at first. Then she watched as chakra from his glowing hands slipped into her arms, carefully shifting her own chakra flow in some places.

"Now, keep your chakra like that while I pull out," he said after a while. His chakra retreated into his palms, and her own tried to shift back to its natural state. Hinata held it in place for a moment, then it occurred to her that he was still leaning on her back. Distressed, she lost focus and the chakra reverted.

"Ah, close," he commented.

"Umm, you're distr...I don't think..."

"Well, let's try again. This part takes a few tries." She shivered with a bit of cold this time when he stepped back to do the seals. Then of course he got close again, and she tried to ignore her heartbeat.

It was after the third try, when she was able to hold the chakra pattern for several minutes, that something unusual happened.

Hinata heard Hiru doing the seals, and reactivated the Byakugan eyes she'd been resting. She paid close attention as he molded her chakra into the right position.

"After this, you should be able to do it yourself. I should give you a discount for learning so quickly, Hinata."

It suddenly occurred to her. _Did Kiba pay anything for that scroll? How can I get a 'discount'?_ As her attention wandered, so did her byakugan, shifting down at her body, then shifting around to look at Hiru as best she could. Hinata gasped: there was a thin wisp of chakra between them. Having seen it, she could tell immediately what it was. This was the same pattern as that Yoroi person who fought Sasuke in the chuunin exams! Her chakra was flowing, slowly but steadily, into the dragon pendant. She fought back a wave of panic, but Hiru still felt her tense.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"W-what are you doing? With that necklace?"

"Oh, you noticed that?" he stopped immediately with both his hands and the pendant. "I need to absorb some of your chakra and combine it with my own, so the molding technique works."

The byakugan said he was lying.

"Tell me the truth," she mumbled softly. Hiru was stunned.

"Uh, well, okay." she turned around to face him, and he was looking very agitated. Then he sighed.

"The old man and I...we don't take money for our jutsu. We take chakra. I need it more than most people, you see." Hinata noticed that his eyes were no longer black, but instead a dark shade of blue.

"Normally I try to take it without the customer noticing, 'cause they think it's creepy," he continued. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but you're not in any danger."

Hinata thought it over. According to her eyes, he was telling the truth even at the end.

"I-I'd like to stop for tonight. Can I finish learning the jutsu later?" she asked. His face brightened.

"Of course! Anytime after dark I'm available, unless I have another customer. The scroll will let you know."

"In that case, I'd like to go now." Then Hinata noticed something new coming over his face.

"Umm, before you go, can I...awkward question...can I have some more of your chakra?" He was hungry, she could see it now.

"I promise it won't hurt, won't damage your body, and will replenish itself overnight. I'll only take a little bit." Hiru held up his thumb and finger to indicate "a little bit." Hinata thought it over.

"I-I guess so." She took a step towards him, surprised at her own decision.

"Cool, thanks." He seemed to grow bigger for a second, but she was sure that was just an illusion. The teenager strode forward and hugged her, gently. Hinata squirmed uncomfortably, her hands pressed against his chest in case she needed to force him back. She could feel his heartbeat slowly accelerate, like a huge windmill hit by a sudden wind: slow at first, but faster every second. Then she gasped and it felt like she was using all of her techniques at once, the chakra flowed to his hands and chest and left her body. It was scary, but he stopped after only a few seconds.

"It will never get any worse than that," he said simply and released her. When she looked at him she saw that his eyes were bright blue, as was the dragon's crystal around his neck.

"I look forward to seeing you again, Hinata," Hiru finished as he pulled out a scroll. He held one end and threw the roll next to her. It curved in the air, circling around her again and again and smoking. A moment later she was back in her room, and the smoke was seeping into the scroll on this end. Apparently Kiba had left on his own.

Across town, Ino was startled by a loud **ding**. Curiously, she checked the scroll lying on her bed and saw the "Your training is ready to begin!" message. Anyone looking at her window would have seen a puff of white smoke a few seconds later.

"Let's see...hair growth is an easy jutsu to learn. Maybe I should throw in something else afterwards." Hiru thought aloud as she arrived.

* * *

Critic: I'm getting a very good idea of how this story is going to work, but I still want advice. I'm writing the chapters randomly, then coming back and touching them up before I post. I've already written up to chapter 7, but it's a bit messy. The problem is, if I get bogged down in storyline I'll stop writing. It's my greatest weakness as a writer.


	5. The adventures of Naruta Uzumaki

**Chapter 5: The adventures of Naruta Uzumaki**

Sakura walked down the street, heading home after her training. Tsunade had congratulated her on her effort these past few days.

"_What's gotten into you?" her sensei had asked. "You're working so hard, ever since you met old man Hiru it seems." Sakura tensed._

"_It's not that, sensei. Don't worry about it."_

Still, Tsunade had been feeling eyes on her back every once in a while.

The pink haired girl sighed, and heard someone else sigh in unison with her.

"Wha?" they both asked in unison. Turning, Ino and Sakura saw each other for the first time.

"Oh, hey," the blond girl said dreamily. She was leaning out the first-floor window of her family's flower shop. Her hair was hung over one shoulder.

"Ino, did your hair get longer?"

"Yeah." Ino smiled and flipped it behind her back.

"What's with you?" Sakura asked. Then she realized what it probably was.

"Well..." she began, "I met this guy."

"Who is it?"

"He's not from Konoha. He told me he just came from the village hidden in rain." Sakura's ears perked up.

"Really? Where'd you see him?" Ino smirked.

"I didn't just _see_ him, I've spent the last three nights with him. He's a jutsu instructor, and he's giving me lessons."

"You're kidding me."

"Nope. Y'see, this creepy old guy came up to me and wanted me to buy jutsu. Finally I gave in and took one, but he disappeared before I could pay him for it."

Sakura shuddered. "You got a scroll from that old peddler?"

"Yeah, but the scroll didn't have the jutsu I wanted. It was a summoning jutsu, to go get private lessons!"

"From the old man? Eww."

"Actually, the old man's hot grandson was the teacher." Ino sighed again. Sakura got an ugly mental picture of the old man's face, but with darker hair.

"I think I'm in love," Ino continued, but Sakura stuck out her tongue.

"Anything related to that gramps can't be hot, it's against nature!" she exclaimed. Ino looked surprised, then smiled knowingly.

"You wish you'd bought a scroll too, huh?"

"Wha? I do not!" Ino laughed.

"I'm sure you can get one, if the old guy's still around. Just keep your hands off of Hiru-sensei if you do."

"No problem there." Sakura turned to go.

Druj waited patiently for the peddler to return, leaning on the entrance to Konoha. It wasn't long before he saw the old man waddling down the road toward him.

"You're late," was all he said.

The old man yawned. "Had to catch up on some sleep." Somehow the wrinkles on his face _did_ look more tired than usual, the Anbu noted.

As they walked, he finally decided to do his job: surveillance.

"So, where do you go at night?" he asked the old man casually.

"Somewhere amazing." The peddler grinned up at him.

"How so?" Druj willingly walked into the trap.

"I close my eyes, and I'm surrounded by young women for hours on end!" he closed his eyes, savoring some strange memory. "But that's all an old man like me can get, I suppose."

"You know, I love a good joke as much as the next guy..." Druj said suddenly. The peddler raised an eyebrow.

"...okay, so maybe much, much more than the next guy. But it's been three days and I need to be serious for a second. You remember me, right?"

"Yes I do, Druj," the old man answered quietly. "I guess I'll get all the seriousness over with at once, and say thank you for your kindness, you and Tsunade-sama, and Sandaime-sama. I would be crazy to harbor bad feelings towards any of you."

They walked in silence for a bit.

"Now, was that your seriousness for the month, Druj-kun?"

"I guess so. And don't call me 'Druj-kun'." He shivered. "Your face scares me these days."

"Now, do any of these young men have chakra to spare, I wonder? Young Hiru has been getting dessert before dinner!"

"Young Hiru is taking after old Hiru too much, I think."

"What a terrible thing to say to a wrinkled old friend!"

"Hiru-sensei!" Druj squeaked in a high-pitched voice.

"It's a young maiden's love! Don't mock it!" the old man crowed.

"I thought all an old man could get were his dreams." The Anbu was frowning behind his mask.

"I think young Hiru's serious about her," the peddler said darkly. Druj actually stopped in his tracks.

"I think 'young Hiru' falls under 'things I need to protect the citizens of Konoha from'." In front of him, the peddler stopped as well.

"Does he now? Well, I suppose a girl _is_ a bit too much to ask for right now."

"Is there any chance of you settling down in Konoha?" Druj started walking again, approaching his friend's back and passing without looking him in the eye. Hiru followed.

"I guess we'll both have to watch and find out, eh?"

"..."

"..."

"...Hiru-sensei!"

"Shut up."

"Ah, it's much too early for a conversation like that!" the old man announced after Druj disappeared. He caught a glimpse of the Anbu on a faraway rooftop, watching him like some scavenger bird. But Anbu escorts were bad for business, and today was another business day.

He went to the place where he'd first met the three genin and poofed his cart into place. He sat there for a half hour with no business before Naruto slumped around the corner, glanced tiredly at him, and sprang awake right away.

"OLD MAN!" he shouted, rushing the cart. "You said you'd come back and train me, and that was three days ago!"

"That I did, sorry." Hiru smiled widely enough to make Naruto forget his complaints, and even back up a little.

"Now, come over here." The peddler waved at a new addition to the cart. Sticking out of the side was an oversized thermometer filled with a black liquid.

"Touch the bulb, and try putting some of your chakra into it," the old man instructed. "It should turn...(here he leaned over and sniffed Naruto) ...yellow."

Naruto grabbed the bulb with both hands and grinned. "Are you sure, old man? I might break it."

"I'm not worried about that, young man. Go right ahead."

"RAAH!" the genin yelled, forcing chakra into the bulb. The liquid slowly turned yellow, then began to rise. There was a series of marks on the side, and it rose to fill about 30 out of 100.

"Ooh! That's a fair chakra reserve you've got there, young man. Much higher than I'd expect from your age."

"But it's only at 30...32!" Naruto complained. "I've got more than that."

"Do you now? Try to push it higher, then!"

Naruto tried...and tried. It hit 33 on the scale, but went no higher. He never would have given up on his own, but eventually the peddler cried out, jumping off of his stool.

"What's that?"

Naruto let go of the bulb, and the reading started to drop. At the very bottom of the bulb it looked like a few drops of red dye had been added to the yellow liquid.

"What's that?" the old man repeated, then smirked. "You've got someone else's chakra on you, eh? Trying to beat the system?" Naruto shook his head.

"That's my chakra, gramps."

"Don't mock an old man, now." The peddler hobbled back around the cart. "I'll sell to you, don't you worry. Now...what would be a good jutsu?"

"I told you already, I want them all!"

"And just how are you planning to pay for that many jutsu?"

"...you gave Hinata one for free."

"That I did. Are you a cute young lady?"

"I can be, if that helps." Naruto told him. The peddler chuckled.

"SEXY NO JUTSU!!"

The old man's eyes hardened instantly and he ducked behind the cart. After a second, he realized it was a joke and stood back up. Then he was hit full-force by the sexy no jutsu.

"Ack, who're you!? Quick, cover yourself up young lady!"

_Old man's trying to be a gentleman,_ Naruto thought smugly. _Pretty stupid._

"_Please_ will you sell me a jutsu? Pretty please?" she asked with a finger on her lip. The peddler froze, then a wry smile spread onto his face.

"Ahh, so that's how it is. Well, maybe I will. Come here so I can inspect you for hidden weapons first, young lady." the girl flinched slightly, but came closer.

"Okay, if you really want to."

As soon as she was close enough, the peddler made some seals with his hands, then reached out and pressed them to her face.

"Fuuin Hengen no jutsu! Permanent transformation-locking technique!" A small vertical line appeared on the girl's forehead, and she stumbled back.

"KYAAA!! What did you do, old man!?" She tried to transform back, but it didn't work.

"Would you like some clothes now?" the peddler asked sympathetically. He took a black cloak out of his scroll and offered it to her. She snatched it from his hand and threw it around her shoulders.

"Wh-what was that? I can't turn back!" she whined. A small crowd had gathered after hearing their shouts, and were whispering amongst themselves.

"Don't worry, I call it the permanent transformation-locking jutsu but it only lasts an hour." As he said it, the line on her forehead rotated slightly clockwise.

"You're so mean!" she cried, then clapped her hands over her mouth in horror. The old man waved his hands at the crowd.

"That jutsu I just used, it's for sale over here! Come buy the secret if you're interested!" Everyone who wasn't interested turned away and the crowd started to disperse.

"I'm interested in your jutsu, old man," said a monotone voice. They both looked and saw Shino coming closer. His glasses flashed several times before he reached them. The girl turned around and stood facing the fence, quietly suffering.

"Oh, hello... Naruta?" Shino sounded dead serious behind his glasses and collar.

"Would you like to try the chakra meter?" the old man suggested. "Or do you have something in mind?"

"One moment, old man. I'd like to console Naruta-chan. She seems to be taking this rather hard." His glasses flashed again. He might have said more, but didn't get the chance as Kiba came around the corner.

"Hey, he showed up today!" Then he saw Shino standing there. "Woah, what's so funny?" he asked his teammate. "You look like you're about to crack up."

"Why don't you ask Naruta here?" Shino's glasses flashed again, but his voice was still monotone.

'Naruta' wimpered, then whirled around and grabbed Kiba by the collar.

"Help me Kiba! I can't take this, I just can't!" The cloak chose that moment to loosen from around her shoulders.

"Woah!" Kiba jumped back.

"Kyaa!" Naruta grabbed the cloak and tightened it again.

"...I went 'kyaa' just now."

Kiba burst out laughing, and Shino's glasses flashed several times.

In the middle of all this, the old peddler had started to yawn. Finally he cut into the conversation.

"I might be too tired to sell jutsu today."

"NO!" Naruta cried, "I've waited for days!"

"Here, each of you take one of these scrolls, and we'll let Hiru figure it out." They each took an unmarked scroll, then both the man and his cart disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Mercifully, he left the black cloak with Naruta.

"Oh man, you should have seen it. That kid must have pissed him off or something, so he..." the person talking laughed some more so Sakura didn't hear the rest. Suddenly everybody around her was talking about an old peddler they'd just seen.

_Ugh, I don't want to see _him_ again, _she thought to herself, but for some reason she kept walking.

"DANG IT!" she heard somebody yell in a high-pitched voice. A chorus of laughter followed. Sakura saw Kiba was one of the people laughing, so she walked over curiously.

"And here comes Sakura to console you," Shino said, his voice sounding strained for some reason.

"Kyaa!" For the first time, Sakura noticed a blond-haired girl as she whirled to face the other way. Her shoulders were trembling under a thick black cloak.

"What's going on here?"

With a titanic effort, Kiba straightened his face. "There's someone here who needs your help. I don't know what to do, 'cause, well, I'm a guy." Then he lost it and rolled around on the ground, holding his sides and gasping for breath.

Sakura frowned. "That's just cruel. What's wrong, umm...?" she asked the girl.

"K-kage bunshin...no-jutsu." the blond girl mumbled too quietly for them to hear. A wall of ten Naruto's appeared around her, standing shoulder to shoulder.

"Oh, Sakura! W-what are you doing here?" one of them asked.

"Naruto, get out of the way."

"I-I'm...I mean, she's fine!" he waved his hands to help somehow. "Nothing to worry about here." On the ground, Kiba recovered and lay there for a few seconds before getting up.

"You okay?" Shino asked him.

"Let's keep watching," he answered.

Maybe things would have gone well, had Naruta not whimpered loud enough for Sakura to hear.

"Hey! What's going on here!?"

"Nothing! You can't see her!"

"Are you okay in there? Is Naruto bullying you?"

"N-no, he's...he isn't!"

"Naruto you baka! Let her go!"

"Uwah!" Naruta made a dash for it, and the clones did their best to surround her. Shino and Kiba watched Sakura chase them until they were out of sight.

"It lasts one hour, huh? How long's it been so far?"

"Twenty minutes."

"Hinata!" a voice cried out. The short-haired girl barely had time to turn around.

"Help me!" a girl with long blond hair grabbed her shoulders. "Save me! Hide me!" **(A/N I'm not going that deep into the language, but in Japanese boys use a different word for "me" than girls do. In this case Naruta would be using "Oro," the guy's word instead of "Watashi," the one for girls.)**

"Eh?"

"Where are you hiding!?" Sakura's angry voice demanded from somewhere nearby. None of the clones had made it this far.

"S-sure," Hinata answered the terrified girl. She grabbed her by the collar and in seconds both of them were up in a tree, looking down.

"Oh, thank you Hinata!" the strange girl said with her high-pitched voice. "I can't run anymore."

Sakura walked around the corner and passed under the tree. Hinata ignored her for a second so she could study the person she'd helped. There was something familiar about the marks on her cheeks, but she had a horizontal black line on her forehead.

"Come out, Naruto! I don't know what you did, but you're gonna pay for it!" Then she headed off again.

"W-what? Naruto?" Hinata asked the girl.

"Yeah, what's up?"

The Hyuuga girl slowly turned bright red. She activated her Byakugan to make sure. "Why are you..."

"It's that old man's fault," she grumbled. "He told me it'll wear off in an hour." Suddenly Hinata recognized the line on her forehead, but she was too nervous to think about it much.

"O-old man?"

Naruta ignored her for a second, pulling a scroll out of the cloak. Where on earth she'd been keeping it, nobody needs to know.

"But he gave me this, finally! I wonder what it says." She broke the seal and unrolled it. Hinata forgot herself for a second, and moved closer to read it with him.

"Sorry, please wait for the sun to set," Naruta read. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Umm, you'll see." Hinata said quietly. Then she noticed how close they were and jerked away. "Umm, Naruto, your..."

"Kyaa!" The cloak had loosened again, and Naruta dropped the scroll in her rush to tighten it. They both looked down at it from the branch.

"I'll get it," Hinata offered and disappeared. Naruta saw her grab it, then she was next to her again.

"Wow, did you used to be that fast?" Hearing her high-pitched voice annoyed Naruta.

Hinata blushed even deeper. "I've been training very hard lately." They both were surprised to hear her say this without stuttering. "With Hiru-sensei."

"Who's that?"

"You'll...you'll meet him when you use the scroll. He's been teaching me the bone-hardening jutsu and some others..."

"Oh yeah! I need to learn that tonight!"

"Well..."

"But the first thing I'm going to make him teach me is how to get rid of _this_ thing." Naruta pointed to her forehead.

Hinata turned on her Byakugan and took a closer look at it. "Actually, I..."

"I wonder how long it's been so far. Being a girl is no fun at all!"

"I might be able to..."

"What's up, Hinata?" Naruta interrupted her yet again.

"Hold still!" she told her forcefully. Hinata could see the pattern. It looked like a fistful of chakra lines had been stretched over to the black line and pinned under it, so she reached out, put her hands on the girl's forehead, and...

"Umm, try it now."

There was a poof of smoke and Naruto sat there, looking at her in awe. When it really hit her that she'd acted like that in front of him, she felt faint. Her hands slipped from his forehead and she slumped back against the trunk of the tree.

"Woah, thanks Hinata! If that ever happens again I'll come straight to you! I- wait, are you okay?"

"I-I don't feel very well."

Naruto reached over and grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling out of the tree, which of course finished her off. He managed to keep her from hitting the ground, but then he had a new problem.

"There you are, Naruto," Shino said as he appeared out of nowhere. "I'm glad you're...with us again."

"Hey, forget about that! I can't figure out what's wrong with Hinata!"

"I think I can. Just put her down there, I'll look after her until she wakes up."

"Are you sure? Maybe I should stay too."

"You definitely should go. She'll be fine if you do."

"Well, okay I guess." Naruto laid Hinata gently with her back against the tree. As he walked away, Shino called after him.

"I'm assuming you've read your scroll? I look forward to seeing you tonight."

"Yeah!" he yelled back, forgetting everything else and deciding to go train.

* * *

Critic: Okay, I've worked out some kinks and it's ready to go. I'll be posting a chapter tomorrow, and the next day, and probably the next day, instead of putting them all up right this minute

Also, for anyone who likes to read both Fanfiction and FictionPress, I recently wrote a poem I'm very pleased with but it's quickly getting buried by dozens of other poems in the Love section. If you want to, follow this link:

/s/2536485/1/Readthistomusic

...and tell me what you think about it. So far it hasn't gotten a single review... sniff

I guess if I get a bunch of reviews for it, as well as reviews for this story, I'll be encouraged and start writing faster, better stuff.

* * *

Okay, the doc manager refuses to let me do the link right. If you type in the address for fictionpress followed immediately by that bit above, you'll get there.


	6. Extreme Training

**Chapter 6: Extreme Training**

"Cool!" Naruto said as he arrived in the clearing. The smoke from his scroll dissipated quickly and he looked around. A similar plume was clearing a few feet away, with Kiba standing in it, also checking their surroundings curiously.

"Welcome, you two," they heard a teenager say, and saw young Hiru and Shino standing at the base of a large tree. Shino seemed to be moving strangely: it was a moment before they realized he was panting.

"Shino here has some excellent martial arts techniques," the stranger told them, coming over. "When he takes off the coat, that is."

"What?" Kiba asked incredulously. Shino cleared his throat.

"Now," Hiru continued, "Let's spar so I can understand your abilities."

"Urk." Kiba hesitated. Naruto grinned for a minute before he noticed.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Shino stepped forward. "Naruto, look at Kiba. What's wrong with this picture?"

"Nothing. He's just standing there."

The bug-wielding teen sighed. "Akamaru's not here, you idiot. He hasn't been with Kiba since-"

"It's alright!" Kiba interrupted. "I can still spar on my own, it's nothing serious."

"Woah you're right! He wasn't with you before either."

Kiba said nothing. _Wait ten seconds, he'll forget about it. Just watch._

"Oh well, I'll go first then!" Naruto made his seals and there were five of him.

The members of team 8 shared a look. _Make that three seconds._

"Shadow clones?" Hiru said simply.

"Yep," they all said in unison. The effect was eerie.

Two of the clones charged him, and he sank into a low crouch. He charged at the last second, catching their legs and flipping both of them over, where they poofed on the ground.

"Shadow clones are tricky," he began his assessment. A dozen new clones encircled him, and started charging in one or two at a time. He defeated them all quickly, making it look easy.

"Many opponents will be overwhelmed by the shock value," he continued as they fought. "This makes it very powerful against low-level opponents. Unfortunately, as soon as you meet an enemy who can keep their cool the power goes way down." A clone dived at him from above, and he punched it viciously in the face.

"You two, pay attention as well. It looks like I'm using too much force, but if I let any clone stay within my reach too long I'll be swarmed. The other way to fight clones hand to hand is to move around so that the entire group can't engage me at once. In any case, you should only use taijutsu against clones as a stall, until you can do something about the original."

"Quit dodging!" the Narutos shouted together. More and more of them were appearing around him.

"Most enemies will be planning other attacks right now, but Naruto here shouldn't have enough chakra for that yet." When he had finished saying this, Hiru went _fft_ and disappeared.

**BLAM** One of the clones went poof. The others all looked and saw Hiru getting up from a crouch.

"Okay, we're done. If this were a real fight I'd have done that to the real one." He pointed at Naruto, who was standing only a few feet away.

"Hmph." All the clones poofed out.

"Woah, what're you doing!?" the white-haired teen asked. He held out his arms and ran in a circle around them.

"What're _you_ doing?" Naruto asked, chuckling. Hiru looked ridiculous.

"You just released all your chakra into the air! What a waste!"

"I always do that." Naruto shrugged. "If I lose a little chakra, I'll just make more."

Hiru stared at him for a minute. "I guess it's not such a big deal for you. But someday, you'll have to fight someone like me." He smirked. "I just took some of your chakra from the air and added it to my own."

"No way!"

"I say that, but my ability is a very rare bloodline trait. You won't meet many people who can do it to that extent. Now, Kiba was it?"

Kiba sparred with him for a few minutes, and fared much better than Naruto had. Hiru claimed he was getting tired.

"Okay," he said when they were finished. "Now for another exercise.

They walked over to where Shino was sitting with his back up against a tree.

"What're we gonna do?" Naruto asked eagerly.

Hiru flashed them a smile that sent chills down their spines. "Chakra endurance training. Are you in?"

"Sure!" Naruto was first to answer. Hiru asked the other two, and they both agreed.

The white-haired teen started making seals...and kept making seals...and kept making seals for almost a full minute.

"The person who developed this technique deliberately made it take a long time. He had a bitter hatred for all wars," he explained. Finally, he was finished. Hiru clapped his hands together and pulled them apart, and a faint bubble appeared between them. He instucted each of them to put their hand inside it, one at a time.

"Oww!" Naruto cried when it was his turn. "It feels like my hand's dying."

"Your body responds to having its chakra stolen by producing more, and over time you'll develop a higher chakra level permanently. I'll expand the field, and sitting in it will make you stronger."

Shino spoke up. "What do you do with our chakra?" he asked coldly.

"Ah, umm...Think of it as my payment."

"Do you always take that kind of 'payment'?" Shino pressed. "My insects smell Hinata's chakra on you, as well as several others." All three of them gave Hiru a hard look.

"I collect peoples' chakra and use it for things that aren't really your business," he said nonchalantly. "I'll be teaching you valuable jutsu in return, you know. If you'd rather pay cash, I'll take it."

"Hmm," Shino relented. The other two seemed up to it as well.

"Now, let's begin." Hiru spread his hands a bit, and the sphere expanded with it. Then he flung his arms apart, and the shimmering field got large enough to envelop all three of them.

Naruto and Kiba had both experienced Jiroubou's earth prison, so the feeling wasn't unfamiliar. Still, it wasn't the same either. It was hard for them to describe afterwards.

"I'll keep this up for five minutes. Then I'll teach you guys whatever you want to know."

* * *

All three of them were panting heavily when Hiru announced that they were done. Shino had it the hardest, as he needed to keep his insect legion alive as well, but he refused to leave the field.

"Now, Shino's already got his technique. What kind of jutsu do you two want to learn?"

"I want to be able to summon Akamaru," Kiba said.

"What about that bone-hardening one?" Naruto asked him.

"Oh, I've already taught that to Hinata," Hiru answered him. "I don't teach the same move to two people from the same village. If you want to know it, you'll have to get her to teach you."

Both Kiba and Shino smirked, even if you couldn't see Shino doing it.

"Okay then." Naruto wasn't fazed. "I want to learn that transformation-locking technique grampa Hiru used." The members of team 8 shared another smirk.

"Then I'll start with that one. You two should learn it too, then I'll teach you whatever you want."

"I thought you didn't teach the same jutsu to two people from the same village," Shino commented.

"Uh, well, it's because this one is a trademark of mine. It's special."

"And one last thing. Why did you have us do the chakra endurance training _before_ the jutsu training?"

"Well, that's because chakra tastes better when you're not tired."

They all groaned.

* * *

Half an hour later, when they were each practicing a different jutsu and Hiru was cycling between them to give advice, that another plume of smoke went up in the clearing. The boys were a bit surprised to see Hinata step out of it. Hiru walked over and greeted her.

"Perfect timing! Welcome to the group, Hinata."

She looked around fearfully. "Th-the scroll said you were free," she said, seeing Naruto out of the corner of her eye.

"And I'm free, it's no problem. We'll start exactly where we left off."

"But..."

"Now!" He stood still for a moment, then disappeared with a _crack_.

"Byakugan!" she cried, and started walking forward. A flurry of shuriken started flying at her from one side, and she blocked them all with chakra bursts from her palms. The blades stopped for a second, then came from a different side. Hinata blocked for a few seconds, caught one, and threw it back.

The shuriken stopped abruptly. Hinata turned to look, as did the boys who'd been watching. Something black and brown fell from a tree, and landed with a sickening thump. Hinata gasped: it was Hiru.

"And there's that problem again," he said from behind her. She felt a cold blade across her neck, but it moved after a second. "Your senses are sharp, but it's too easy to disrupt your emotions." She sighed as the corpse clone disappeared.

"Yes, sensei."

"And the only way to improve it is to practice it over and over, right?"

"Yes, sensei."

"Wrong! Actually, there's a faster way." He turned to look at the boys. "You just need to succeed once under extremely hard conditions, and the memory will make it easier every time after that."

Hinata didn't like the way that sounded. "What are you talking about?" she asked softly.

"Hey, Naruto! Get over here! Hinata wants to spar with you!"

"Really? She does?" Naruto ran over. The Hyuga girl paled.

"I can't."

"No, you can't. But when you wake up tomorrow morning, you'll be someone who can." He turned to Naruto.

"No clones in the beginning, understand? I'll tell you when you're allowed to use them." the blond genin nodded enthusiastically.

"Got it. Anything else?"

"Yeah, come at her as fast and hard as you possibly can, and try not to get yourself pummeled."

"H-Hiru-sensei, I can't do this!" Hinata protested. Naruto looked concerned.

"Maybe we shouldn't, then," he offered.

"Not a chance. I'll start, and tell you when to take over, Naruto."

"No, really..." she whimpered.

"Raah!" Hiru swung around and tried to knock her head with his elbow. She instantly rocked back on her heels, and his arm passed right over her.

"Hey!" he shouted. "You're fast enough to counter-attack, so do it!" He aimed a roundhouse kick at her, but she shifted back, out of reach. For his third attack, a straight punch, she cupped her hands on her shoulder and caught it with her whole body. Gripping his hand, she tried to sweep out his feet and throw him down but he twisted away and out of the tackle.

"Faster!" Hiru demanded. He charged her and kicked her knee. Hinata had realized the feint and let him connect, tapping her palm to his chest before he could launch the real attack. A burst of chakra flowed into him and he staggered back.

"Strike, Naruto!"

A log appeared where Hiru had been falling, and Naruto came flying over it.

"Hyaaa!" he shouted and swung a fist at her.

Time seemed to slow down for Hinata as her mind raced. It did that sometimes when her Byakugan was active, although she couldn't remember when she'd started using it. She felt herself freeze up, watching Naruto approach her. He'd hit her, and she'd have failed again. Or, she'd block him and feel terrible about it. Hinata found she couldn't move a muscle.

Still, Naruto was on his way. This was taking a long time: his speed just wasn't the same as Hiru's, from a moment ago. What if she just moved a little to the side, that'd hurt a lot less. Line up against the punch and the shock would be channeled through her bones and into the ground. She moved a little in that direction. Naruto was still coming. Since she had so much time, maybe she should...wait! It struck Hinata like a bolt: she could move! Time blurred back up to speed.

**SWAP!**

The sound echoed throughout the clearing. Hinata's hand was wrapped around Naruto's and his arm was stretched out in front of her, pointing down at an angle. She found herself slowly shifting to finish the move, placing her other hand on his elbow to lock it away from herself.

Naruto was stunned.

"Cool!" Hiru called out, clapping his hands. "Now, go ahead and finish the throw!"

Hinata found her voice again. "But...I...I can't..."

Naruto grunted, and smiled at her over his arm. "This really sucks, but...neither of us will get stronger if you don't do it.

"Oh..." she blushed, feeling confidence return to her. The confidence was quickly followed with strength, and she moved to quickly take Naruto's center of gravity.

"Hyaaa!" she shouted, and flipped him completely off his feet. The throw was graceful but unstoppable, and Naruto yelped as she laid him out flat on the ground.

Everything was silent for a moment, then Naruto opened his eyes and grinned up at her. "Heh, nice one."

"Naruto..." Hinata blushed. "Thank you."

"Great!" they heard Hiru yell. "Now do it again!"

The two genin looked over and saw Kiba and Shino sitting next to him, watching. Occasionally one of the three would reach down and grab a handful from the bowl of popcorn in front of them.

"You guys!" Naruto shouted at them. "What happened to training?"

"We're studying the competition," Kiba called back.

Naruto grumbled, getting to his feet and brushing dirt off his backside.

"Umm, shall we continue?" he heard Hinata ask. He looked up at her and she blushed slightly, but her eyes looked determined. Determined and surrounded by popping veins, so the effect would be intimidating if he didn't know her.

Naruto smiled at her. "Sure!"

They squared off properly, and Hiru called for them to begin. After a few minutes of Naruto getting thrashed, the white-haired teen called out again.

"Okay Naruto, you can use clones starting now!"

"Alright!" Naruto croaked. He'd been doubled over, but he stood straight up and grinned as he made the seals. "Here I go! Graaa-HAK!" he seemed to choke on something for a moment, then he fell forward.

"Naruto!" Hinata cried, and ran over to him. She rolled him over, and found that Hiru was standing next to her. Naruto frowned up at them.

"Looks like you really sucked me dry, Hiru-sensei. Give me a minute, Hinata, I'll rest for a minute and then make more chakra.

"Make more chakra?" Hiru asked. "Not gonna happen in a few minutes. You're done for tonight."

"Hey!" Naruto sat up straight. "That's not cool!"

"Naruto..." Hinata looked at him, worried.

"I just...Hinata just surpassed herself, didn't she? And I've been waiting for days for this! I've got more chakra in me, you'll see!" Maybe Naruto didn't have enough to get mad about under normal circumstances, but no matter who you are, getting beat up by a girl over and over again is frustrating after a while.

"I'll...I'll keep going! It's in here, I know it!" Naruto poked his chest and gritted his teeth. "Why won't it come OUT!?" The lines on his face seemed to get darker in the moonlight.

"Woah, hold it," was all Hiru could say. Hinata whimpered.

Naruto growled for a few seconds, but all of a sudden his eyes fell onto Hinata, and he froze. She looked so afraid...of him.

**FOOMPH**

A ring of air radiated out from where they stood.

"Heh, wow!" Naruto said nervously. "Told ya I had more chakra in me." The other two, as well as Kiba and Shino who had just dashed over, stared at him in silence for a minute.

"Uh, I'm ready to continue now, Hinata. If you want to keep going, that is."

"Of course you should!" Hiru clapped a hand on each of their shoulders "Carry on!" He turned to go sit down again, and the boys of team 8 heard him mumble to himself, "It's red."

Hinata felt nervous again, deeply nervous even worse than before. _What was that?_ she thought over and over again. For just a moment, she'd seen the eyes of an animal, but she'd been looking at Naruto! That was the Naruto she knew? How well did she know him, anyway? Apparently he could sense her unease, because he laughed confidently.

"Maybe now I'll have a fighting chance, eh Hinata?" he asked playfully.

"Y-yeah, maybe."

"Oh, that's cold. I'm being looked down at." He made the seals, and a horde of Narutos appeared around him. "Here I come!"

Hinata tried to shake off her unease. It was the same Naruto. See, he still swung slowly, but now there was another one of him ready to attack the moment she blocked. The Byakugan eye could tell that none of them were the real Naruto yet, so she blasted them without remorse.

_Naruto wouldn't look like that,_ she told herself. _I just imagined it._ She slipped a bit, and one of the Narutos landed a punch on her collarbone.

"Oww!" he exclaimed. "Your bones are hard! Oh wait..." she thrust her palm at him and he poofed.

"Even if I land a hit, it'll hurt me more than you!" another Naruto continued. "No fair!"

_That's right, this is supposed to be fun. I'm sparring with Naruto and doing great. Actually, I'm surrounded by Narutos...It's like Naruto heaven._

Hinata realized the absurdity of her own thoughts and blushed, then giggled.

_Woah, _Naruto thought. _She must really like sparring!_

"I wonder how long you can keep this up?" he taunted from outside the mob of clones.

Hinata surprised them both by retorting, "You should hope it takes me a while, because when I'm done here I'll put you down again!"

Naruto gulped. "We'll...see about that!"

* * *

"Okay, five minutes!" Hiru called over an hour later. Both of them were panting heavily, but Hinata still hadn't taken a single hit. Or rather, she had, but whenever this happened she shifted so that Naruto hit bone and he ended up worse off.

"Time for the final attack!" Naruto's enthusiasm was unending. Hinata didn't reply, but took up her defensive stance again.

"U!" one of the clones shouted, sliding in with a kick. Hinata's leg snapped up and down, poofing him.

"U!" a second clone cried, coming from the other side. Poof.

"U!!" A trio of them attacked, and two of them poofed. Hinata gasped: the third was the real Naruto. He took a punishing blow to the chest, but that let him get in range of her.

"U!" A horde of him jumped to continue the combo. Hinata blocked half of them in midair, but there was always one left to continue.

"Zu!-Ma!-Ki!...Naruto Rendan!" The real Naruto and a clone appeared above her to finish the move.

Time blurred around Hinata again, and she sighed with relief. All she had to do was reach...

All of a sudden the two Narutos seemed to move normally again, they were too fast! For a split second Hinata felt a leg on each of her shoulders, then she was thrust at the ground. She still had the presence of mind to move, spinning in the air to land deftly on her feet. A dozen narutos landed around her.

"STOP!" Hiru shouted, striding over.

"I'm done," Naruto told him. "You don't have to shout."

"Yes, but you were about to release your clones into the air again. I'll show you how to absorb them." He turned to face the other two, who had started training on their own again. "Shino! You too!"

"Yes!" Shino answered, and a swarm of bugs surrounded them.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain," Hiru said when Naruto and Hinata gave him a puzzled look.

"Now!" he said a few minutes later, when all the clones were gone. "I think we're done for tonight. I look forward to..." the white-haired teen trailed off all of a sudden.

The Konoha genin all followed his gaze to the sky, and heard a falcon's cry. Hiru got a wild look on his face, Hinata thought it looked like frustration.

"Goodnight." A second later all four of them found themselves in their rooms, next to a smoking scroll.

* * *

Critic: the reason I started thinking about this story idea again is the game Naruto Arena. It's an online strategy game where you fight using three-man teams of Naruto characters. In it Hinata's a freaking tank, but she needs a lot of chakra to fight. Good game... It's too bad that they reset the ladder becuase I just can't get back into the top 500


	7. Simple Reason

**Chapter 7: Simple Reason**

Hiru stirred: his pendant was pulsating. Working a ten-second delay into the summoning jutsu was pure genius, if he did say so himself. It gave him just enough time to wake up, yawn, and stretch before the person arrived. Of course, they couldn't tell that it took so long. Tonight the only scroll he'd activated was Ino's, so it must be her.

"Hiru-sensei!" she cried as she appeared in the clearing. "What will you teach me tonight?" She looked around, but didn't see him.

"Up here," he told her, and she saw him lying on a tree branch. The first thing she noticed was that he was wearing a black tunic. It was the first time he'd worn a shirt since she started coming.

"What'll we be doing tonight?" she repeated.

"I don't know...you want to just talk for a while?"

"Umm, sure!" Ino jumped up onto the branch beside him, and sat down. The moon was filling out more every night, so they could both see clearly.

"This place is great..." he said contentedly, slouching back against the trunk.

"What do you mean?"

"Everything gets so still at night here. It's so peaceful."

"And just a little boring, I bet," she added.

"Not in the least."

"Are you kidding? I'm sure you've been to better places than Konoha." Ino cocked her head and looked at him. "Places where...things happen, I guess."

"Yeah, I've seen places like that. It was horrible. It's like...everybody sleeps with one eye open." He frowned, thinking. "That, and the trees are all young. It's because they're always being burned down in battle or cut down to rebuild after one."

"You're not talking about busy places, you're talking about wars. Konoha only seems peaceful to you because we're at peace right now."

"Exactly."

Neither of them spoke for a while after that. It was Hiru who broke the silence after a few minutes.

"Hey, Ino?" She glanced over and saw him staring at her.

"What?" Ino started to fidget with her hair.

"I have a strange question."

"What's up, sensei?" Her head started to buzz a little.

"I was wondering if you wanted to stop calling me that for a while. Tonight, I mean."

"Sure, but why?"

Hiru pushed off of the branch and sat up. "It's kind of a mean thing to say, but up to now you've been my student. I've treated you almost exactly like every other female student I've taught. Guys don't really go for the physical contact."

She frowned, but he wasn't finished yet.

"Also, I haven't been teaching you for free. When I help mold your chakra, I also siphon some of it into myself. It's not enough to hurt you, but you probably felt unusually tired after training. That's my payment for teaching; I need it for my condition.

Ino felt a little upset, but not angry yet. "Why are you telling me all this?"

Hiru smiled at her, almost nervously. "I wanted to say all that first, because now I'm going to ask you out."

"Hmm," was all she said because her mind was racing. It wasn't happening the way she'd daydreamed about, but the moment wasn't completely ruined. "All right, Hiru...san."

He smirked. "What? I haven't asked yet," he said playfully.

"You jerk," she pouted, breaking off a piece of knarled tree-bark and throwing it at him. He laughed as it bounced off his chest. A second later he cleared his throat.

"Ahem. So, umm... Ino, would you like to go out with me tonight?"

"I really don't know," she teased. "Where will you take me?"

"About that..." He folded his arms and looked down, thinking. Then he looked back up at her, and shrugged. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" she giggled. "Never heard you say that before."

"I try to avoid it. But let's see...somewhere with a view. I want to get to know Konoha better." He stood up and started looking around.

"You've really got this all planned out, don't you?" Ino asked sarcastically, looking up at him.

"There. I'll take you up there." She followed his pointing finger, and could see the top of the third Hokage's face above the trees.

"Let's not, that could take forever." Hiru jumped down to the ground.

"No it won't." He smiled mischievously. "Come here."

"Whatever." Ino jumped down next to him. They could just barely see the faraway cliff from ground level, and she watched as he paced around for a minute, staring off in that direction. Finally he stopped, and looked back and forth between her and the cliff.

"This'll work."

"What will?" she asked, coming over to look. A small window between the trees allowed them to see better from this spot.

"Put your arms around my neck," he told her calmly.

"What?"

"Please."

"Uh, okay, I guess..." She stepped forward and nervously put her arms over his shoulders.

"Much tighter than that."

"Fine!" Ino stood up straighter, wrapping her elbows around his neck. She could feel his breath on her face as he smiled.

"Good." Hiru swung his arms down and swept her off her feet, bridal style. "Hold on tight!"

"W-wait, what? What's..." she trailed off, looking up at him. She could feel his breathing and his pulse both getting faster, faster until she started to worry. He rasped for air, and his heart pounded harder and harder.

"Hiru?" she asked. Then a loud **CRACK** echoed through the clearing, and she felt a massive jolt.

"KYAA!!" she cried, her eyes shut tight on their own. Wind was rushing by her somehow, she could feel it brushing her face and tugging at her hair.

"Hey, are you okay?" Hiru's voice asked above her, and she realized she was burying her face in his chest. After gathering her senses for a moment, she opened her eyes and looked around, then gasped. They were literally flying through the air, at the top of a long arc. Hiru shifted his weight in midair, bringing his feet forward as they started to fall. He breathed quickly a few times as they came down, and with a much quieter _crack_ they landed on top of Sandaime's stone head.

"I'm afraid it's a very unromantic way to travel," Hiru stated, still holding her in his arms.

"Are you kidding? That was incredible!" Ino caught herself, and shut her mouth tight. He looked surprised for a moment, then grinned down at her.

"Really? Tell me more!"

"Put me down," she told him, blushing furiously. He gently lowered her feet to the ground, and she released him. He shifted slightly, and when his collar moved she noticed a set of red fingernail marks along his collarbone. _Oops._

"Wow, you really can see everything from up here!" He turned to look out over Konoha. "It's beautiful."

Ino looked, and the view took her breath away. The village sprawled out beneath them, laced with silver moonlight. It was hard to believe those were the same streets she always walked along in the daytime. Then Hiru spoke up, breaking her reverie.

"Ino, can you come here for a second?"

"What's up?" she asked, walking over to him.

"Stand right...there." He pointed to a spot in front of them, near the edge of the cliff.

"I think teaching's given you the bad habit of giving orders," she commented, but stepped forward. Hiru stepped back, so he could look at her in front of the village.

"Beautiful," he breathed.

Ino blushed in the moonlight. "You're too much."

"Hey, I'm enjoying myself. Are you?"

"Yeah, I am." She smiled at him, then turned around to look out over the village some more. Hiru strode over, and they both sat down on the Third's forehead. He seemed to get lost in thought for a while, so they sat there in silence.

"I guess old man Hokage gets the last laugh," he said out of the blue.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Ino asked lazily.

"The first time I ever met him, we got into an argument. I told him I'd die before he did, and he just looked at me and said, 'You? That's ridiculous. You've got nothing to fight for but your own life. I'm an old man who's just met you, yet I would give my life to protect you if I needed to.' ... And here I am, looking out over what he died to protect."

Ino listened in silence: she didn't have anything to say. Hiru cocked his head and continued.

"That sounds kind of cool, though, having something to die for. I've always figured I'd find one eventually."

"Ugh, no it doesn't!"

"Wha?" Hiru looked at her, shocked.

"That's a terrible way to live! Always thinking about dying, you'll miss out on what's in front of you! "

"But..." he started. _Who would think such a noble idea sounds bad?_ The concept had never even occurred to him before. "Protecting someone else, is the greatest way to die."

"But protecting someone else and living is even better."

"Sometimes that isn't an option!"

"Apparently it's always been an option for you, or you wouldn't be here right now."

The white-haired teen thought for a minute. Finally he sighed.

"Yeah, I guess so. My point is just...being willing to die for someone else is really cool."

"If you put it like that, I can't say it's dumb. But if you're always thinking about it, you'll end up 'sacrificing' yourself when you didn't have to."

"I guess you're right, but..." he drew his knees to his chest and pouted. "...I wanted to win the argument."

Ino laughed. "You seemed so dark and mysterious when I first met you, but now you're..." she stopped short. Hiru was holding a hand over his face, and his one eye that she could see had a look of pure savagery. It sent a shiver down her spine, like a wild animal was trying to glare her down.

"...I meant that as a good thing."

"Oh," he said simply, and moved his hand. He smiled nervously before looking away, up at the sky.

"You can see plenty of stars in Konoha," he changed the subject.

"Yeah, you can," she allowed it.

Their conversation went to stars and stayed there for half an hour. Finally Hiru offered to take Ino home. She was reluctant at first, but he said he needed to sleep.

"I guess you have that scroll with you," she mentioned.

"Hmm, actually, where do you live?" He stood and looked down at the village.

"Now that you mention it, right...there." Ino pointed. She could see her roof easily.

"Well, let's go then." he held down a hand for her. She took it, but after pulling her to her feet he swept her right off them, bridal style again.

"Hey!" Ino felt his pulse quicken again, and after a few seconds the same **crack** echoed behind them and they were off. The warmth of Hiru's ragged breath barely reached her through the air flowing past them, but she still noticed it.

"Does it hurt, jumping like this?" she asked.

"What?"

"You're breathing strangely. Does it hurt?"

"It's like the pain of running and being out of breath: if you pay close attention it really hurts, but you're not going to stop running because of it and it doesn't last very long anyway. If you haven't stretched your legs in a while it actually feels good."

"oookay."

"I talk too much?"

"Don't worry about it."

For the landing this time Hiru stretched out his legs beneath them, coming all the way down to a low crouch as they landed so as not to damage the roof.

"Well, I think you can get down from here," he commented as he set Ino on her feet.

"hmm," she said, uninterested. They stood in silence for a minute, looking at each other.

"I...I really do need to go, so..." he trailed off, looking unsure of himself.

Ino sighed, then stepped right in front of him. She had to look up before she smiled and closed her eyes. A moment passed.

"No, I didn't mean..." Hiru started.

"...I really, _really_ want to." she heard him whisper, inches away. But his tone made her open her eyes.

"But I can't right now." Hiru was looking straight down. "It would literally be writing a check with my mouth that I can't pay for."

He looked up at her. "But! I can try. I think I'll have a word with the old man...about not leaving Konoha tomorrow."

There was yet another **crack** and he was gone.

Ino didn't know what to think. "Tomorrow?" she asked the night sky.

* * *

Critic: And now, the pattern will be revealed! I'm going to write this story in 7-chapter increments, introducing a new character at the beginning of each one. Hiru's "phase" is over, even though his story still has a long way to go. The second phase is Asuka's.

Also, there seems to be a bit in the document program that refuses to save my Fictionpress link. It won't even take the words: "Fictionpress,com" if I type it right! If you're willing, you can go to fictionpress, erase everything after the .com and paste this after it:

/s/2536485/1/Readthistomusic

I would appreciate it very much.


	8. Asuka the Huntress

Chapter 8: Asuka the Huntress

Sakura could feel herself weakening. _Maybe I could just ask Tsunade-sensei to teach me, _she thought to herself.

A mental picture flashed through her mind. First Tsunade blushed slightly, then a shadow came from nowhere and covered her face. Then chibi Sakura came flying out of the Hokage's office window with X's for eyes and a bump on her head that was bigger than her body.

_Maybe not._

She was going out to visit her friend Ino. It had nothing to do with the creepy old peddler, she just wanted to...buy some flowers! Her room needed some to brighten it up.

"Oh, Ino's not here right now. She said she was going out to buy something."

Sakura sighed, and turned around.

"Hello," the peddler said with a smile.

"Wah!" she cried out. His cart was set up at the side of the road, looking like it'd been there for weeks.

"You're in luck, young lady! I was planning to leave Konoha today, but young Hiru wanted to stay for some reason. Still...my wares will probably only be available for a few more days I think." he winked at her.

_Now's my chance! ...if I were planning to buy something, which I'm not._ It took Sakura great willpower to turn away.

"Oh, Sakura." Ino was coming down the street.

_GAAH!_

"And grampa Hiru too! I've been looking for you." Then a sly smile crept across her face. "Oh wait, am I interrupting a sale?"

"N-no, you're not. This old guy's stalking me is all."

"Oh come now, I've got two scrolls for you right here. One's the, ah, special jutsu I told you about, and the second is a gift."

"Really? What'd she get, old man?"

"None...of...your...business." Sakura gritted her teeth and turned bright red.

"Now, how can I help you Ino? Usually once the girls figure out how the scrolls work they never want to see old me again." The peddler flashed her a creepy grin.

"Actually...I wanted to ask you about young Hiru." A strange look passed over his face.

"Hiru? What do you want to know?"

"Everything. First off, last night he said you two were leaving Konoha."

"Yes, well, I'm here today aren't I? If you're worried about lessons we'll be around for a few more days."

"A few more days! Can't you stay longer?"

Sakura had been listening intently while saying nothing. Her friend looked distressed.

"Now see here missy, Hiru still doesn't know his own limits. He's too weak to stay in one place for too long."

At this point Sakura cut in. "Shouldn't it be the other way around, when someone's sick they need to rest in one place and not travel."

The old man wagged a finger at her. "Ah, but for Hiru, to stop moving means to stand and fight. It'll be a long time now before he's strong enough for that."

"What do you mean!?" Ino demanded. The old man said nothing until they were interrupted a few seconds later.

Everyone in the area heard a falcon's cry in the air as it swooped down from the clouds. Ino and Sakura tensed when it became clear the bird was coming at them. When it was twenty feet above them, its claws released something small and red and it pulled up, flapping its wings. At ten feet the red object erupted into a whirl of red and black, growing larger and spinning. Then as they watched, a figure with long black hair landed in front of them in a crouch. She stood up and smiled at them.

"Asuka! The old man cried, and spread his arms.

"Peddler-san!" Her voice was clear and musical. She ran forward and gave him a big hug.

_Ewww. _The same thought passed between the two Konoha girls.

"How are you?" the peddler asked as she pulled away, with his face bright red and a big smile.

"I'm doing okay. Things are really heating up in Umou village though."

"Ah, but that's a good thing. Everyone's getting what they wanted."

"I guess so. Now, I'm looking for Hiru. Is he still traveling with you?"

Sakura and Ino just watched, completely dumbfounded. This Asuka girl was pretty, so why was she on such good terms with the old man? She wore the same black baggy pants as Hiru, with a black and red striped tunic. She had a red hair clasp at the back of her hair, and a smaller one below it created a cascading effect. Sakura noted another feature that made her grumble, and her eyes traveled to the two scrolls old Hiru had offered her.

"Yes, we're getting along fine still. I don't eat much though." the peddler laughed at himself.

"Good, when can I see him?"

"You know Hiru-kun, he's asleep all day long. I don't know how long it will be before you can meet him again."

_This is a strange development,_ Sakura thought. Then she sensed something going on next to her.

"Grampa Hiru, who's this?" Ino stepped forward, smiling.

"Ah, she's-" he was cut off.

"My name is Asuka." the girl answered with an equal smile. "It's nice to meet you, umm..."

"This is Ino, and Sakura." The old man pointed them out to her. "They're both customers."

Sakura and Ino both frowned, as did Asuka.

"That Hiru." She sighed. "If he's not careful he'll end up like you, old man." Ino's face burned.

"Hiru-sensei knows what he's doing, I think."

"Hiru...sensei!?" Asuka burst out laughing "He's...he's calling himself..." She leaned forward and gripped her sides.

"Hey! Who are you to make fun of him?" Sakura watched Ino's wrath building. It felt odd to see it aimed at someone else.

"Eh? I've known him since we were little kids. Of course I can laugh at him, we're so...close."

Ino growled, but said nothing.

"Now now, girls, be nice," the peddler said with a solemn face. Sakura had seen him chuckling moments before.

"Okay," Asuka smiled again. "Can I buy a scroll now?"

"Eh?" Ino and the peddler said in unison.

"Well, that's the quickest way to meet him isn't it? I've never used the scrolls before and it sounds fun."

"Those are for customers, Asuka-chan." He wagged his finger again. "And besides, you haven't told me why you want to see him."

Ino smirked, enjoying a moment of triumph.

"Hey, that's not nice, peddler-san. Did you forget? Four days from now is his birthday, or as he likes to call it, 'Hiru appreciation day'." Now she enjoyed a moment and Ino looked troubled.

"I'm surprised you came all the way out here just for that. He'll be very pleased to see you I think." Neither side was happy with this answer.

"Can I have a scroll then?" Asuka asked.

"No, no. You should find him on your own. It shouldn't be very hard since you have Eve with you." He pointed to a nearby tree, and when Sakura followed his finger she saw the falcon perched there, watching them.

"You're so mean, making Eve and I find him on our own. It's not like he can escape us if he wanted to."

"Ah, that's a whole new conversation that could take hours!"

Asuka sighed. "Well, if you see him, tell him to expect me...tonight." She flashed them all a coy smile.

"Well, good luck with that. I'll see you if you make it, since Hiru-sensei already knows I'm coming."

A little spark of lightning passed between her and Asuka, even though they were standing several feet apart.

"Goodbye then," Asuka said suddenly, and turned with a swish of her hair. She walked away casually, and Eve flew from the tree and followed her. The two Konoha girls watched until she turned a corner. Then Ino also turned and stormed away, a bitter look on her face. Sakura almost followed her, but chose not to.

"That was entertaining, eh?" the peddler said mercilessly, but then he looked more serious. "Young Hiru's going to have a fun night tonight."

"Well, you didn't do anything to stop it, did you?" Sakura pointed out angrily, and decided to head home.

"Ah, don't forget your scrolls!"

She stopped, and looked long and hard at the two scrolls he was holding out to her. "Tch." She took them. A few steps later she heard something and looked over her shoulder. The cart was gone, and old Hiru had just started walking after her.

"Hey..." she began, but stopped.

"Grampa Hiru!" he squeaked in a high-pitched voice. "Just who was that Asuka girl? How does she know this young Hiru that I've never met but I expect he's really strong and handsome!"

Sakura growled at him and started walking again. Unfortunately he was going the same way, and kept pace with her. After what felt like ages he turned to go down a side street, and she gladly watched him go. Of course, he stopped after a few steps and turned around to speak in the high-pitched voice again.

"Grampa Hiru, I'm worried about Ino-chan! How come Asuka seems to know Hiru so well?"

Sakura stopped and groaned. "Leave me alone, old man."

The peddler cleared his throat and answered in a deep voice, "Well, Sakura-chan, of course Asuka knows a lot about him. After all, Asuka is Hiru's sister."

When Sakura looked back he was gone.

Kiba crept along, down on all fours so as to make less noise. The captive whined a few feet in front of him, and he put a long-nailed finger to his lips. This made his target be quiet, and also wag its tail a little.

"I'll get you out of here in a minute, Akamaru. Then we're home free! I can ask forgiveness better than permission anyway."

"What's that, Akamaru?" a shrill voice called, loud all the way from the living room. "Kiba's talking to you as if you can understand him again?" The teen froze.

"Don't worry little doggy, someday he'll realize you don't speak human and give up."

The voice, a female's, continued after a moment. "What's that? Really!? Are you _sure_ he's planning to take you out, even though he's grounded? No, you must be joking with me Akamaru, because Kiba knows how much PAIN he'll be in if he does."

Kiba gulped loudly, then cursed himself.

"What was that? Akamaru, is he _still there_? Maybe I should come check."

Akamaru whined as his master dashed out of the room.

"Dang it! Right when I need to train with him, too!" Kiba wasn't about to tell anybody, but of course Shino had figured it out instantly. Life without his dog just wasn't the same. He started walking to think about it.

"Maybe I could learn how to summon him," he wondered, thinking about the scroll in his room. He mentally pictured it, and a shiver went down his spine with the coolness. "I'll call it...Akatouri."

Then something happened quickly, but it felt slow because he noticed so many details at once.

A shoulder plowed into his, and he reeled back a bit. The shoulder belonged to someone with long black hair, he could see a pair of red hairclips as she tripped forward. He'd heard footsteps a moment before but wasn't paying attention. She caught herself, and stood back up quickly: he had to shift back to not get hit in the face by those hairclips. Nobody he knew, for a moment he thought she looked beautiful. Then he saw clear liquid welling from her eyes, and his mind realized that she was crying.

"Woah, are you okay?" he said quickly with a double meaning. Usually it would have stopped here, but Kiba had another well-developed sense.

"You...smell like Hiru-sensei," he said stupidly.

"Idiot!" she said, and turned to run some more.

"Hey!" Kiba didn't know why he reached out and grabbed her arm. Probably a reflex from dealing with Hinata, it suddenly occurred to him.

"That..." she said softly, not looking back at him. "...Idiot!"

"What's wrong?" Kiba suddenly wondered what on earth he could do.

"Eve!" the girl called out. Then she wrenched her arm away from his grip and made a set of seals. The moment she was done there was a puff of smoke, and a falcon swooped in. Kiba watched as it flew away, and saw what looked like one of the girl's red hairclips in the bird's talons.

"Well...that's one way to travel," was all he could think to say.

* * *

Critic: yes, I make good use of an english-to-japanese translator website. If I'm using incorrect forms, then all I can do is hope that none of you know them better than I do, 'cause I've got plenty more coming.

Also, my artistic sister has agreed to sketch my OC's for me. Does anyone know of a good site to upload pics so you guys can see them?


	9. Family Reunion

**Chapter 9: Family Reunion**

"C'mon!" Ino looked angrily at the scroll. It said that Hiru wasn't available right now, try again later. She just couldn't let _that girl_ reach him first.

"Well," she said aloud, "I do know where he is..."

Sakura had spent the afternoon pretending nothing had happened with Ino and the new girl. She was reading the scrolls grampa Hiru gave her as a distraction. Yeah, that's all it was, a distraction.

The one scroll just had a bit about coming back later, so she ignored it. The second had specific instructions for a series of hand seals, followed by a diagram showing how she needed to visualize her chakra flow to make it work. It was all very detailed and well laid-out, so she had no trouble working it out. It was written after this that she needed to do it several times, at exactly 23 hour increments for it to work best. And at the very end were some warnings. _Nice place to put them,_ she thought.

"First, do NOT overuse this jutsu. Terrible things will happen. The limit is based on your personal chakra, so be prudent.

Second, terrible things will also happen if you tell someone about this jutsu. The scroll itself will burn up exactly three days after being opened for the first time.

Third, you should use the other scroll at least once, as a sign of gratitude. There's plenty more for you to learn if you're interested."

It was dark out when she finished learning the jutsu. Sakura took a deep breath, and made the seals. She couldn't feel anything happening, but the scroll said she wouldn't. Just as she had finished, she heard a _ding_ from the other scroll. After she had read the message, she seriously considered ignoring it completely. Then she sighed, and touched the seal.

A strange white-haired teen was waiting for her.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Sakura. You can call me Hiru."

She eyed the strange patterns on his arms and chest. _Well, _she thought, _I can see why Ino fell for him._ By far his most striking feature was his eyes: they swirled like pools of liquid, constantly cycling between several different colors.

"Now, you're Tsunade's pupil, correct?"

"Yes, I am."

Hiru looked hard at her for a second. "You're able to use basic healing jutsu, right?"

Sakura smirked. "Yeah."

"Show me." He drew a four-pointed shuriken from his belt, and proceeded to stab himself in the arm with it. He grimaced as a line of blood trickled out.

Sakura frowned at him, but stepped forward and laid her hands on the wound. She focused, and a blue light appeared around her fingers. A few seconds later the wound started to seal itself. Sakura couldn't tell if it was taking too much of her chakra or not, but it sure seemed like it.

"Good," Hiru said when she was done. "Now try this one." He took the shuriken, and rotated his arm so that gray skin was facing up. Carefully, he drew a little scratch across it that barely bled.

Curiously, Sakura started the healing jutsu again. This time the chakra bubble started dissipating the moment it touched the gray skin. She winced and pulled back.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I'm dying because you can't heal me!"

"Very funny."

"It was caused by a curse jutsu," he explained. "My chakra no longer flows to the gray skin, and it acts like a vacuum that sucks in any that touches it."

"...and you want me to heal it? How's that supposed to work?"

Hiru's eyes hardened. "You have excellent control of your chakra, but the greatest challenge of a medic ninja is to control it outside their own body. You'll need to pull on your chakra just enough to keep the gray skin from getting it, and focus it on the cut at the same time."

That sounded hard. Sakura smirked, glad to have a challenge.

"Do you know why this is so important?" Hiru asked her a half hour later. She'd only been able to heal a third of the cut, and was panting heavily.

"Why?" she grunted.

"Healing jutsu have a powerful weakness that often goes unnoticed: the bubble can be disrupted by striking it. Tell me, when will that be a problem?"

Sakura thought about it for a second. "When?"

"I'll leave you to figure it out."

_JUST DIE!!_ Inner Sakura shouted.

"But your chakra seems to be dimming," he continued. "Here, hold out your hands."

Sakura did, and he held a hand over the cut. He seemed to strain for a second, then a flood of pink light poured out of the gray skin. Hiru turned, so that his elbow was still touching the gray, and his put his hand in hers. She felt greatly refreshed as her chakra poured back into her for a whole ten seconds.

"Wait, if you can extract chakra from your curse, why didn't you just resist absorbing mine in the first place?"

"Because I've been heavily wounded in battle," he said smiling. "I'm your unconscious patient who will die if you don't learn to heal me on your own."

"...That's it, I'm going."

Ino had been standing at the gate to Konoha for fifteen minutes now, trying to decide whether she should keep going or not.

"...ooh, but he might not be there. The scroll said..."

Suddenly she heard footsteps approaching. She dashed to the shadows of the gate and crouched there, only then wondering why she was so nervous to be seen.

But maybe her hiding paid off: she watched as a dark figure appeared from behind a building and headed purposefully for the gate. The girl was wearing a white mask with red flamed painted along the bottom, but the long black hair and double red hair-clips made it pretty obvious who she was. As soon as she passed into the trees, she flitted away and Ino lost track of her.

That decided it though. Dashing out, Ino made a beeline for Hiru's clearing.

The trip took about ten minutes, but it felt like ten seconds... or three hours, she couldn't decide which. Finally she jumped at a tree, ran up it and stopped short on one of its branches. Panting, she took in the sight of Hiru and Sakura standing together in the clearing.

For a second, Ino panicked. Then there was a flash between the two and Sakura stepped back. She looked strained, even from here. _Of course she's training,_ Ino realized_ It's probably a good thing she's here._

"Hey," she called softly, much quieter than she'd meant to. They didn't hear her.

"Hey!" she tried to say, but nothing even came out. _What's going on? Am I really that nervous?_ Ino closed her eyes and tried to relax. _This is stupid. They won't mind me showing up, I'm scared for no reason._ She exhaled, feeling better. Opening her eyes, she jumped down from the branch and walked forward.

"Hiru-sensei! Sakura!" she called out, waving. They both looked over.

Suddenly, Ino heard something whizz past her ear, and saw Hiru violently shove Sakura away. Half a second later a shuriken embedded itself in the bullseye on his chest. It was followed instantly by a second, third, then too many blades to count poured in and shredded him.

"What!?" Ino cried, too shocked to say anything else. A small cloud of dust settled in the clearing, to reveal a log full of throwing stars. Both she and Sakura stared at it for a second, then looked at each other.

Their attention was broken by the sound of metal striking metal. Two strikes behind her, then one off to the left. Ino tried to follow, but couldn't. Finally a **clang** sounded between her and Sakura and they saw two figures standing completely still, kunai knives locked between them.

"Hello Asuka," Hiru said warmly.

"Hello, Brother." the masked girl replied.

"You look so grown up, I'm surprised. Nice figure by the way."

"Aww really? Thanks!" she chirped with fake enthusiasm. "Now die already!"

Hiru skidded back, and Asuka charged him. Their knives flashed back and forth, long enough for Ino to get a grip.

"Hey!" she shouted, dashing over to Sakura. "What's going on?"

"Like I know!" the pink-haired girl answered.

They watched as Asuka forced Hiru back up to a large tree. Suddenly she dropped down, shot forward, and slammed him against the tree with her shoulder. Blood dripped from his leg as she pulled out the blade.

"This was a very bad time for you to come," he commented mildly.

"It took a while to catch you," she admitted. "But the long chase ends right now."

"Does it?"

**Crack.**

Asuka flew twenty feet back before landing on her back and skidding to a stop. She whimpered slightly, then jumped to her feet. Sakura and Ino were standing on either side of her in a flash. Both aimed a punch at her, but she bent over backward, and they swung at thin air.

"Hmph," they heard from behind the mask. Asuka took a swipe at Sakura's ankle with her knife, and when she moved it Asuka caught her off balance with a kick to the gut.

Ino watched her friend stagger back, and tried to land a kick of her own. The masked girl caught her foot, twisted it, and karate-chopped her calf. She cried out in pain, and fell to the side.

Hiru launched himself at Asuka, caught her around the waist, and with another _crack_ he physically threw her up and out of the clearing. A falcon flew up from somewhere nearby and streaked toward her as she started to fall.

"Hey, are you two okay?" Ino heard him ask, and looked up.

"What on earth is going on? She said she knew you!"

"Who, Asuka? Yeah, she knows me. That's got nothing to do with it."

"But she's your..." Sakura started, then realized she didn't want to finish saying it in front of Ino.

From above them, they all heard a falcon's cry piercing the night.

"It's time for you to go," Hiru said to them. He shook his hands a little, then started making seals.

"Sakura!" Ino called sharply.

"Right!" Sakura grabbed the scroll from her belt, and threw it away as fast as she could. Next to her Ino did the same.

"Wait, what?" Hiru looked surprised.

"Are you stupid!?" Ino glared at him. "We're not going home _now_!"

The white haired teen looked at them blankly for a second.

"Oh yes you are," he said gravely. He started walking toward her. But all Ino could think about was the blood still trickling down his leg.

"I can fight!" she demanded. "And you need help!"

"You don't understand." Hiru sighed.

"She attacked us too, right outside of Konoha," Sakura added. "All we have to do is go back to the village and she can't do a thing."

"It's not like that," he replied simply. "As a missing nin, Konoha cannot protect me. Doing so would be an act of war."

He turned, and somehow Ino could tell he was preparing to jump.

"Don't!" she cried out, dashing toward him. Then something strange happened. Just as she was about to reach him and he was about to disappear, his weight shifted strangely. The two Konoha girls watched as he slowly toppled to the side and landed on the ground.

"Hiru?" Ino asked urgently, dropping to her knees beside him. Sakura hurried over, took one look at his leg, and paled.

"You've been poisoned," she declared. "I give you ten minutes before you can't move a muscle, and six hours to live if you don't get medical attention."

Hiru looked up at them sheepishly. "Well, that changes things a bit."

Asuka took her time, working on a strategy and giving Hiru time to send the girls back like she knew he would. Laws were meant to be solid, but there was seriously nothing Umou village could do against Konoha if the leaf decided to bend them. And technically, she had gotten the first blow against Hiru's students.

_Hiru's students...We used to play a game where he was the teacher and _I_ was his student._ She'd never told anyone, but that game was by far her favorite. The guy was born to teach, which was probably why he never learned.

"Let's go, Eve." Even now the bird still refused to fight against Hiru, but she was assigned to Asuka and would at least take her to the fight. _Transforming into something small so Eve could carry me was Hiru's idea as well... _she couldn't stop herself from remembering.

Asuka didn't see him, so she had Eve drop her in the middle of the clearing. Looking around, she realized he may have run if he noticed the poison. This idea made her look around frantically for some sign of him.

"Haa!" he shouted, dropping down in front of her. Asuka flinched for a second, ready for another lightning blow to hit her, but it didn't come: he was furiously making seals.

"Fuuin Hengen no-" he started, but his movement was too sluggish. She rocked back to avoid his thrust, driving her knee into his collarbone with the same movement. He grunted and staggered back as she righted herself and took an aggressive stance. Something moved in the corner of her eye and she started to turn...

**WHAM!**

Sakura's super-strength took her by surprise and she reeled back. The pink-haired girl rushed forward and grabbed her legs so she fell to the ground, hard. They struggled for a second but she couldn't free herself. Growling, Asuka drew a kunai from her belt and raised it, hoping the threat would work before the blade had to.

"Hey, up here," someone said cooly.

Asuka looked up, and saw Ino standing over them, aiming her hands down at her in the shape of a heart.

"Art of the Valentine," she said simply, and fell forward. A pair of hands caught her waist, and Hiru laid her gently on her back.

"Good job," he told Asuka as Sakura released her legs. She stood up, and Hiru made his seals again.

"Dai Fuuin Hengen..." he began but hesitated. His vision blurred, and he started to lean forward.

"HEY!" Sakura hollered into his ear, jerking him awake. "What are you doing, giving up now!" He saw that Asuka/Ino was starting to pant as her jutsu continued.

"Dai...Fuuin...I can't do it," he muttered. The two girls saw that his eyes were black holes. Sakura groaned.

"Then take my chakra," she said suddenly. "You can do that right?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then do it! We've been passing it back and forth so long it should be easy." Sakura held out her hands, and he took them.

"Sounds like a plan." He smiled weakly, and drained her. The rush only took a second, but his eyes turned faintly pink. She felt terrible, but didn't show it to the others.

"Ooookay!" Hiru managed, smiling at his own slurred speech. He straightened up and redid the seals.

"Dai Fuuin Hengen no jutsu! Great Transformation-locking technique!!" he shouted, and chakra crackled in his palms.

"Ino, now!" Sakura urged. Asuka nodded and gulped, then rushed the seals and transformed into a red hairclip lying on the ground.

Hiru took a step closer, held out his hands in front of him, and fell forwards. There was a burst of chakra energy when his hands landed on the hairclip, and a series of small lines appeared all over it.

Lying on the ground, he rolled over and held up the clip.

"You can go back now, Ino." Then he chucked it up into the air, where it was immediately caught by the falcon. Unsure of what to do, Eve opted to retreat.

"I feel sorry for Asuka," he said weakly. "Dai Fuuin Hengen is a _really_ nasty technique. She'll probably be angry when she comes back..." he tried to laugh but just coughed. "...In 48 hours."

With that, he was out like a light.

Ino got up and brushed herself off. The memory of watching Hiru catch her body resurfaced in her mind, and she blushed for a second.

"Hey, get up and help me here!" Sakura broke into her thoughts. Now they would have to lug Hiru back to the village and wake the fifth in the middle of the night, neither of which would be easy.

"You seem to have a problem here." Ino jumped as a member of Anbu appeared behind her friend.

Druj immediately took charge. "I'll be taking him back, you two should go home immediately."

Both girls wanted to protest. "We're going with you," Sakura stated for them.

Behind the owl mask, Druj caved immediately. "Fine, if you can keep up."

He whisked Hiru away, and they barely managed to follow.

* * *

Critic: This is considerably harder to write now that I'm working 30 hours. Lots of reviews will _definitely_ encourage me and make me write faster. hint hint...


	10. Time to wake up

**Chapter 10: Time to wake up**

Hiru woke with a start and a jolt of pain, and immediately decided this wouldn't be much fun.

"Good morning Hiru-kun," Tsunade greeted him, looking down.

"Oh, is it really morning?" He smirked. "Time for me to sleep then. G'night." His eyes fell shut.

Across the room, Sakura smiled weakly. A few moments ago, The fifth Hokage had stormed back into the room, declared that it was time for Hiru to wake up, and slapped him across the face. It worked once, so now she tried it again.

_Smack._

"Ow!" he yelped. "What was that for!?"

"The bed doesn't belong to you, so find somewhere else to sleep."

"How cruel! The last time you treated me you were so...gentle."

Tsunade shivered. "You were six years old! And such a nice kid, too! If Jiraiya hadn't gotten to you I swear..." She trailed off when she caught Sakura staring at her.

"...Anyway, get out."

"Oh? I thought for sure I'd never be kicked out of your home, not while I have..." He'd reached for his vest, and rummaged in it for a second. Then his expression changed.

"What do you have?" Tsunade asked in a deceptively nice voice. "Some of your stuff was damaged in the fight, so I threw it away."

"Oh."

"Now, out!" She grabbed his wrist and stood him up. Hiru finally seemed to wake up completely.

"Oh, right." He threw the jacket over one shoulder and leaped out of the window.

"Sensei, what was all that about?"

"Tch. Idiot thought he could blackmail..." Tsunade caught herself. "I mean, he once stole something from me, and I finally got it back."

Sakura's head spun from the information, but she managed to stay on track.

"That's...not what I meant. Why did you kick him out like that?"

"Oh." Tsunade looked uncomfortable. "Hiru can't stay here, that's all there is to it."

"But you took care of him last night!" the pink-haired girl pressed.

"It was dark last night. I didn't recognize his face until this morning...right Sakura?"

The girl's eyes widened.

"As soon as I recognized him as a missing nin, and therefore a lawful target of Umou village's hunters, I attempted to subdue him. He escaped, and I made the executive decision that it would require an unreasonable amount of Konoha's military strength to recapture him. As such, no attempt will be made."

"That's..."

Tsunade smirked. "Actually, it happens a lot. None of the major villages want to spend their time solving each others' problems, and Umou isn't even considered a major village.

Sakura felt like she was looking at her sensei for the first time, and it was just a little scary. Still, something was tugging at the back of her mind, something she'd forgotten...

"I'm back!" Ino announced outside the door. "Is Hiru-sensei up yet?"

_Urk!_

"Come in, Ino," Tsunade commanded. "I need to talk to you as well."

"_as well as me?"_ Sakura realized.

Ino opened the door with a smile on her face and a bento in her hands. "He told me he isn't much of a breakfast person, so I made this instead." then she took in the empty bed, and her smile faded fast.

"Sit down, please." Tsunade gestured to a chair next to Sakura. She made it a point to keep standing, so they could feel the authority radiating down on them.

"Where'd he go!?" Ino demanded, but still sat down. "He can't be better yet!" Tsunade silenced her with her authority and one eyebrow twitch.

"There are a few things you two need to understand," she began. "The first is that the rules change drastically when you enter or leave Konoha. I can claim that I don't know what you're doing when you're outside the gate, but the instant you come back to Konoha, you _will not_ assist a missing nin in any way."

Ino wanted to speak, but that eyebrow kept her mouth pinned shut.

"The second is that leaving Konoha without passing through the gate is against the law." Here she hesitated. "...unless you return the same way and nobody can prove that you left." They both understood immediately, and started to feel hopeful for just a second.

"And the third: you two are now forbidden from leaving Konoha until I decide you can, whether you walk out through the gate or I use the convenient jutsu Hiru gave the third Hokage that informs me whenever a summoning scroll is used nearby."

Ino finally broke free of the authority/eyebrow combo. "But what about that Anbu? He was following us and he took Hiru back here, without using the gate even!"

"What's an Anbu?" Tsunade smiled at them.

At that moment they were interrupted by a polite knock on the door.

"Come in!" Tsunade called. Druj opened the door but stayed outside it.

"Permission to resume following my target." He didn't make it sound like a question.

"Permission granted." The door slid shut. Sakura and Ino both sweatdropped.

"Now, where was I?" Tsunade asked. "Oh right, What's this Anbu thing you're talking about? We have no records that anything by that name exists in Konoha."

Both girls stared at her, no clue what to say.

"I have a few relatives in Anbu," Ino offered dumbly. Tsunade frowned at her, while Sakura giggled.

"We get your point," she told Tsunade with a smile. The fifth scowled and rounded on her.

"Sakura, if you were actually planning to stay in the village you'd be angry. The fact that you're taking it so well means you're planning on disobeying me.

It was Sakura's turn to scowl. "Don't do it," her sensei said calmly, in a voice that would take no argument. "Besides, why do you want to so badly?"

That started the pink-haired girl thinking: why _did_ she want to help Hiru? The answer stuck out to her too soon, and she didn't like it at all. _I couldn't help Sasuke. Maybe I need to help somebody, anybody to prove that I can._

Next to her, Ino replied with a different answer.

"I finally understand what's going on," she said seriously. "Hiru-sensei was running from his sister so he wouldn't have to fight her, but he decided to stop because I asked him to. How am I supposed to just leave him in this situation!?"

Tsunade turned to face her with a slightly different look. "Ino, is there something between you and Hiru?" she asked directly. Ino blushed.

"Well, I guess so..."

At this point Tsunade called upon one of the great secret techniques of Konoha's leaders: the Hokage-sigh no jutsu. Sakura and Ino felt exasperation flowing out from her, filling the room.

"You two come with me, now!" she snapped. They both snapped to attention, then had to scramble to follow her out the window. Seriously, who in Konoha uses stairs anymore?

"Yo!" Hiru called over his shoulder. He'd been making his way toward the gate when he noticed his Anbu tail. The white-haired teen stopped on a wide circular roof and turned. A second later he was joined by an Anbu wearing an owl mask. As Druj rose from his crouch Hiru noticed he was shaking slightly.

"It's been a while," he offered politely. When the mask was silent, he tried again. "Is everything okay?"

"I don't know, you tell me." The Anbu's voice was husky, and he was still trembling.

"Then I'd better-" Hiru started, but was cut off.

"You never know with us Anbu, do you?" the man asked sharply.

"Know what?"

"Who we are, who we're related to, what we really care about...things like that." He raised a hand to the mask, shifted it slightly.

"Is something wrong, Druj?" Hiru asked point blank.

"Yeah, actually, there is." With a sudden movement, the Anbu tore off his mask. His face looked like it was once very handsome, but a pair of vicious scars now ran from underneath his eyes to the back of his neck on either side. The effect made him look like a tortured animal.

"Wow," Hiru breathed. "But I thought you weren't supposed to remove your mask?"

"I'm taking a break as an Anbu," he growled. "For the next few minutes, I'm Druj...Yamanaka Druj."

Hiru's eyes widened. "Yamanaka...Druj?"

"I told you to stay away from my niece!" he roared, and charged forward. His sword slipped out of its sheath, slicing the air as Hiru escaped its path.

"Woah! Wait up! What are you talking about!?"

"You know what'll happen! You know and you still tried to get her involved! You unforgivable scum!" A sword slash accompanied each accusation as if fueled by it.

Hiru didn't respond. He took the first opening and fled, leaving a dent in the roof.

Druj flitted after him, radiating bloodthirst. More than one person walking below noticed him and looked up, sometimes shouting in surprise. When Hiru came down from his jump the Anbu was waiting for him, and nothing could prevent a deep cut into his arm.

"You know I won't let anything happen to her!" he shouted, stumbling back.

"Lies! You told me yourself that you can't stop it!"

"I can't stop it for my own sake. If...if it were for someone else I'd-"

"Stop lying to yourself." Druj seemed to be calming down a little. "Just move on from here, and everything will go back to normal."

"I'm not going," Hiru said firmly. Druj approached him menacingly.

In an instant, the Anbu darted forward and there was a loud _crack_. When the smoke cleared, he was nowhere to be found.

Hiru panted heavily. Ten seconds...ten seconds was _not_ long enough, he realized. He bent his knees experimentally, but the next jump wasn't in them. In fact, neither were the next few seconds of standing: he collapsed to his knees and his hands hit the dirt in front of him.

_Three... _he counted to himself. _...Two...One._ Druj appeared again where he'd been standing, a look of surprise on his face.

"So, you've finally perfected it have you?" he asked darkly.

An instant later, Tsunade and the two genin arrived.

"Druj!" the Fifth shouted.

"What are you _doing_!?" Ino shrieked, running toward Hiru. A look of pure malice passed over the Anbu's eyes as he watched her crouch down next to him.

"Druj!" Tsunade repeated, and he turned to face her.

"Hokage-sama, even you cannot order me to stop attacking a missing nin."

"Druj, I order you to put on your mask."

The Anbu looked taken aback for a second, then he took a deep breath and reached behind his back. He took the mask from its place there and with a trembling hand fitted it into place. His shoulders heaved in another breath before he approached Hiru again.

"S-stay back!" Ino shouted when she saw him coming closer. He totally ignored her at first.

"Hiru, that's not good enough," he said simply, then looked at Ino. "And you, Ino! Throwing yourself at a boy you just met, you're embarrassing your family and myself."

"Do I know you?" she asked coldly.

Druj froze for a second, then chuckled. "Now I look like a complete idiot."

"Tsunade-sama, with your permission I will take a leave of absence from my duties, effective immediately. I have acted quite foolishly."

"Permission granted," she replied blankly, and he was gone.

"Thanks for your concern Ino, but I'm fine." Hiru pushed himself back and stood up, although he wavered a bit.

"I apologize for Druj's rash actions," Tsunade decided to say. "He has quite a temper, but it only manifests itself when he takes off his mask. Many of our Anbu have similar quirks." She shook her head.

"Actually, the Druj with his mask on is the one I remember," Hiru replied unexpectedly. "Something must have happened while I was away."

Tsunade thought for a second, then turned to go.

"Oh, wait!" Hiru called out. "Can you or Sakura-chan help me with this wound before you go?"

"What makes you think that Sakura can heal your cursed skin?" Tsunade asked immediately.

Sakura had been out of the conversation for so long it took her a minute to realize it was about her. "I bought a scroll," she admitted. "He was teaching me last night before Asuka showed up."

"In that case, you should be able to handle it." Did Tsunade sound...jealous? No, just a little torqued, Sakura decided as her sensei disappeared.

Hiru's wound was much deeper than the ones she'd practiced on last night, but healing it seemed much easier. When she was done he stretched like some huge cat, and prepared to jump out of Konoha.

Ino and Sakura watched him go, knowing they would probably never see him again-

"No way that's happening! Mind-body disturbance!" Ino cried. Hiru fell flat on his face, caught in her technique.

"Stay here with us until you're healed. You'll need to absorb more chakra to fight." Hiru said nothing. He didn't move either.

"...Let's go on another date, okay?"

Now Hiru spoke up. "Ino, did you not understand any of what just happened?"

Sakura thought back to what Tsunade had said while they were traveling.

"_Ino, listen. If you want Hiru to stay in Konoha, don't let him out of your sight. The moment he leaves the village again he'll decide to move on, it's how he is."_

Inner Sakura had been fuming ever since. _Make up your mind, woman! Do you want him here or not!?_

Hiru locked his gray eyes with Ino's silvery ones for a few seconds. Finally, he laughed.

"Fine, but first I'll show you my technique for escaping your...'mind-body disturbance?'"

For a second he concentrated, then his eyes turned coal-black and he slumped to his knees. His breathing got slower and slower, until he breathed out and stopped. Sakura watched in interest, Ino in horror for a second as his eyes turned coal black and closed. Ino felt her technique slip away as the target died, but an instant later Hiru took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He shivered once, but got back up and smiled. His eyes seemed brighter somehow.

"Sweet, I can still do it properly," he said with a grin.

"Don't scare me like that!" Ino scolded him.

"Just don't be scared by it," he replied.

Suddenly Sakura felt her strength drain away, and she almost fell over. Hiru was in front of her immediately, offering his arm. "Did you sleep at all last night? After all that healing you did you should be out of action for at least a day."

"I-I'm going home now," she decided. Sakura shook off his arm and stood straight before walking away, to prove her stability. Behind her, Hiru took a step forward and staggered himself.

"Sorry Ino, I think all I'll be doing today is sleeping."

"Then come to my house. We've got a spare bedroom you can use."

"Maybe...yeah, okay."

Sakura stirred, but kept her eyes closed. In her mind's eye she could see her room flooded with light: there was no reason to actually look at it. She hugged the pillow tighter and pretended she could go back to sleep.

Besides, any second now her mom would call up to her, telling her to get up and come down to breakfast. It was like clockwork, how she always woke up a few seconds before it came.

_Any second now._

Those seconds came and went, and nothing happened. "Huh?" Sakura asked aloud, and opened her eyes. The room was much darker than she'd thought. A quick glance at her clock told her it wasn't 9:30, it was 6:30. She sat there wondering for a second before she remembered what happened. After getting home she'd fallen fast asleep, and that was before lunch yesterday. What a nap!

Of course, as she realized this she also noticed that her body was brimming with chakra the way it always did after a stress/rest cycle. It might be early, but she wouldn't be sleeping again. Sighing, she changed from the red dress she'd fallen asleep in, to another identical red dress. A little tiptoeing and she was out the door for a walk or something.

Sakura hadn't the slightest clue where she was going, but it was kinda nice. The sun wasn't doing much yet, and everywhere she went it was quiet. It was a while before she found anything interesting, but when she did it was worth it.

"Hyaa!" she heard a girl's voice cry out nearby. A second later it was answered by a familiar boy's voice.

"Crap, I'm so bad you feel like doing war-cries now?"

"N-no! That's not it, I just..."

"Besides, I'll show you how it's really done...GRAAH!!"

There was an audible **thump**.

"S-Sorry Naruto."

Frustrated, Sakura headed toward the voices. Naruto was too loud this early in the morning, it wasn't fair to everybody else!

When she turned a corner and saw Hinata standing over him, she paused for some reason. She even stepped back so they wouldn't see her.

Naruto grunted in frustration. "We're still sparring!" he reminded the Hyuuga girl. A trio of clones dashed at her, one on each side and one from behind. In an instant, Hinata's arms blurred and she popped the two she could see. Neither Sakura nor Naruto knew about the Byakugan's blind spot, so they were surprised when the third clone rammed into her back with his shoulder. Hinata cried out as she lost her balance and fell forward.

Both teens in the clearing were dazed for a second.

"Ooh," Hinata whimpered. Then she felt something beating beneath her, and froze up completely.

Naruto took a second longer. "How did?-" his gears turned slowly at first, then faster and faster:

--Ninja "A" is standing over ninja "B" when they are knocked over from behind by ninja "C." Ninja "C" then falls over from his own charge and lands on top. The resulting pile of ninjas is C/A/B.--

Yeah, that sounded right. In this case "B" was Naruto, "C" was a Naruto clone, and "A" was...

"Hinata! Are you okay!?" She didn't answer, so he panicked. So did the clone, when it should have been getting up instead. "Hey, Hinata!" Naruto couldn't move unless he used chakra, and that would probably be sudden and explosive.

Sakura was almost as stunned as Hinata, watching them from her corner. _That Naruto! What is he thinking!?_ Now she would have to go beat him up, but at the same time there was no way she was coming out right now.

"Hey, get off!" Naruto told his clone. "R-right." Now it was a two-person sandwich, and just as uncomfortable. The yellow-haired boy expected her to move, but it wasn't happening. He could feel her warmth on his chest, and it felt so wrong! _I bet normal people enjoy things like that,_ he wondered. _The only time I've ever felt heat like this before, it was coming from the stupid fox._ He wanted so much to just relax and enjoy it like a normal person, and the more he thought about it the less he felt like telling her to get off.

Of course, both Hinata and Sakura were normal people so they continued to freak out. Finally Hinata managed to speak.

"N-...Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry!" She couldn't really think of anything else to say.

"What? Oh, don't worry about it." Neither of them moved, though.

"I'll get off now," she said after another few seconds.

"Sure, whenever you feel like it." Naruto grinned.

Hinata shifted to the side and they both sat up.

"Hinata, your face is completely red!" Naruto chuckled.

"Actually, your face is red too," she pointed out.

"Weird."

They were silent for a minute.

"The sun's coming up, Hinata."

"Yeah."

"Wanna spar some more?"

"No, not really."

"Oh."

"...Man, I can't wait for tonight. Hiru-sensei better be available this time."

"Actually, my scroll said he won't be teaching tonight."

"No way!"

"He said...the scroll said we take a break from training."

"A break!? What am I gonna do all night then?"

_There's always sleeping, _Inner Sakura grumbled.

"I was going to...I mean...umm..." Hinata tried.

"What?"

She turned bright red again. "I-if you have nothing else to do, would you...would you like to go out with me?"

"EH!?" Sakura said aloud. They both turned to look, but she ducked behind the corner. After a minute they shrugged, and turned back to each other.

"I don't know," Naruto answered, looking down.

_Poor Hinata, she doesn't realize what a little kid Naruto is._

"Why not?" Hinata looked devastated.

"I went on a date once, and it wasn't much fun. I don't think I'm very good at them."

_When was that?_

"R-really? With who?"

"It was with Sakura-chan."

_What the!? When was that!?_

"Really?" Hinata was thinking hard. "What happened?"

"We went to Ichiraku and I got some ramen. She said she wasn't hungry so I just sat there and ate in front of her. She talked a little, then left." He gave Hinata a strange look that was half smile, half sad. "If a date with me is that boring, I wouldn't want to put you through it."

Images flashed through Sakura's mind. _"Naruto, I'll go out with you or whatever, just get over here now! I need to talk to you about something..._ Looking back now, it was a disgusting thing to say.

"I'm not worried about that at all!" Hinata looked relieved. "If we really do start to get bored we can just spar some more."

_That doesn't sound much like a date..._ Inner Sakura noted, trying to shake off her feelings of guilt.

"That doesn't sound so bad," Naruto said. "Okay, then."

Suddenly Sakura felt a strange sinking feeling. She couldn't figure it out: Naruto had nothing to do with her outside of team 7, so there was nothing wrong with him going out with Hinata. He'd probably be happier if they stayed together, happier than he was now anyway.

_...Happier than he's been liking me._

"Let's meet here at sunset, then."

_...Finally, the fifth wheel will fall off..._

"We could meet earlier and eat together. Do you like Ramen?"

_...and it'll be me and Sasuke, a line instead of a triangle..._

"Not very much, but Ichiraku sells takoyaki as well. I don't mind eating there."

"_He doesn't understand me at all! It's like he deliberately tries to ruin my life every chance he gets!"_

"No way! They don't...do they really?"

"_I'm sorry, I couldn't bring him back. Someday...someday I'll do it though."_

Sakura pushed off of the wall and ran home.

* * *

Critic: In 20 minutes I have to leave and go camping for the weekend, but I wanted to post this first. As such, I haven't put it past my writer friends yet. If you find a mistake or a part you don't like, tell me because I'll be willing to change it on Tuesday.

I also haven't re-checked the manga yet so the flashbacks might be a little off from what was said.


	11. Night Life

**Chapter 11: Night Life**

Walking toward Ichiraku, Naruto felt the usual rush of joy that accompanied eating ramen. That lasted about three seconds before the bigger rush of going on a date came, and all of a sudden he wasn't very hungry.

"See!" he said to nobody in particular. "Dates ruin the best things about life."

It was earlier than they'd agreed to meet: he'd been bored, sitting around at home with nothing to do but head out.

"Six thirty, five thirty, same difference," he told himself. Naruto often speaks to himself when he's nervous, like several famous serial killers used to just before beginning their careers.

"Ichiraku's a great place to eat, and it won't cost me much!" The genin smiled to himself confidently. Then another thought struck him: things that seemed good to him usually ended up wrong when it came to girls. Maybe a ramen stall...wasn't a good date restaurant? A terrible understanding came over him in that moment, leaving him changed forever.

At least, that's how it felt. Sighing, he reached for his wallet and started to count.

Naruto turned the corner a few minutes later, and saw Heaven...I mean Ichiraku. Under the flaps he could see three people sitting at the counter, and a glimpse of teal fabric where a fourth stood off to the side. For a moment he wondered if the ramen stall would work after all: it looked like somebody dressed up to go there.

"You can at least sit down until he gets here," Naruto heard the old man say.

"N-no, I'm fine."

"Hinata?" he asked as he pulled back a flap. He froze for a second: she was wearing a yukata! Well, not quite a yukata. It was a Kunoichi's yukata, it only came down to her knees and looked much easier to move in. Still he could tell it cost something serious, and she looked..._beautiful,_ in it.

"Naruto!" She smiled at him brightly, as people do when they're rescued from feeling uncomfortable.

In an instant, Naruto realized he was still wearing his orange jumpsuit. Actually, in that instant he realized he didn't _own_ anything other than his orange jumpsuit, and a few spares.

"H-hey," he said nervously. All three guys at the counter were watching, plus the owner, and his daughter was staring from the back.

"Hi," she said just as nervously. "I guess I got here a bit early. Are you hungry yet?"

Naruto took one look at the owner, who gave him a dark look that said, _Get out of here._ Then the old man smiled, and somehow the genin understood.

"Yeah, I'm starving. Let's go, Hinata." He held out his hand.

"What!?" Hinata looked terrified. Then after a second she took his hand and followed him out as he held up the flap.

"Where do people go around here to spend money- ...I mean, eat?" Naruto asked as he led her down the street. Hinata giggled.

"Anywhere is fine."

_Yeah, that's helpful. Okay, something you don't get everyday, like from another country._ Then he saw it, and his face lit up.

"How about chinese food?" Naruto pointed to a restaurant down the street. "Yen King" read the sign above the door, and it was obviously a sit-down restaurant.

"Okay." Hinata was having fun just walking down the street.

The hostess smiled pleasantly at them, and lead them to a booth. The place was pleasantly dark, with music playing in the background and murals on the walls. Only a handful of people were there besides them.

A well-groomed waiter approached the two genin with menus, and their evening began.

Sakura's stomach grumbled. This evening walk she was on was as nice as her walk this morning, but she needed to eat something. There was Ichiraku up ahead, what a coincidence!

_Maybe I shouldn't..._ she mused. A second later she made up her mind and ducked under one of the flaps.

* * *

Sometimes when you really want to hear a specific sound, you start imagining that you heard it even though you know it's impossible. Ino didn't bother opening her eyes; there was no way.

"Psst! Ino!" Her eyes shot open and she whirled over in bed.

"Hiru! What-

The teen rushed forward, tried to clap a hand over her mouth, but the instant he touched her a ripple flowed up his arm and he dissipated.

Ino stared at the empty room for a few seconds before the scroll started smoking again.

"I forgot I'm not very good with bunshins," the second Hiru said sheepishly. "One touch and I lose them."

"W-Why are you here?" she asked.

"I'm not here, this is a bunshin remember?" A pillow sailed through his head, causing him to ripple away again..

A few seconds later he was back.

"Please don't do that," he pleaded.

"Stop joking around! What's going on?" Her simple question carried a lot of meaning.

"All right," Hiru said as he walked over. Ino blushed in the dark when he sat on her bed, even though the bunshin was weightless. "Let me tell you a bedtime story," he began.

---

"The village hidden in feathers was started as an attempt to safeguard the land of silver during the great ninja wars. The small country takes its name, and also most of its income, from its silver mines. Knowing they would immediately become a prize to be fought over, they tried their best to remain neutral. They failed, and during the last war the mines were taken from them one by one by neighboring countries.

"Only one mine remained under their control, because its existence was kept secret. The country's leaders faced a dilemma: if they hired shinobi to protect it, it would be discovered and taken like all the others. Their military strength had been low before the war, and now it was nonexistent.

"Their solution came when the Umou clan, who were known for their incredible genjutsu abilities, was devastated in a fight with the Uchiha. Desperate, the Umou survivors accepted a permanent contract to disappear from the war and defend the land of silver.

"By now the Umou clan has grown into a decent shinobi clan again, tied to the land of silver as its only fighting force. Some of the outlying silver mines were returned after the war, but now they are all depleted. Only the hidden mine remains active, and because of it the land of silver is wealthy again.

"Now we skip ahead to six years ago. The third Tsumekage stepped down, and the elders pressured the new Tsumekage to increase our military strength with money from the silver mine."

---

"Wait, Tsumekage!?" Ino cut in.

"Uh, yeah... Like I said before, we aren't a major village but the elders copied the naming style."

"Okay, whatever makes them feel good."

"Hey, Tsumekage is a one-man army, just like your Hokage's and Kazekage's."

"hmm."

"Where was I? Right, the elders said that if we don't increase our military at the same rate as our economy, we'll end up just like before. So the decision was made to purchase fighters, jutsu, whatever came our way. A few days later, we got more than we bargained for.

"A tall man wrapped in a black cloak strode into town, headed straight for the Tsumekage's office. He made the elders an offer, and they purchased from him one of the most destructive forces in existence..."

Hiru paused for dramatic effect.

"Get on with it!!!" Ino barely kept herself from hitting him again. That would take even longer.

"He sold us...the Kyuubi."

Ino looked long and hard at Hiru, who studied the floor. Finally she spoke.

"No way! Are you serious?"

"Yes, the powers of a tailed beast can be sealed into a person, a jinchuuriki. The elders chose the ace of my generation, me!"

"You have it _inside_ you?"

"Yes." Hiru's voice changed, grew harder. "And it changed a lot of things about me. With its powers I was able to complete the ultimate jutsu that I had always dreamed of, but it also got me kicked out of the village."

"But the village bought it!"

"Yeah, well, the village was tricked. The Kyuubi's power doesn't stay inside its host forever, every once in a while it takes over and goes on a destructive rampage."

_He says it so calmly,_ Ino thought irritably. _How many people died the last time the demon fox attacked Konoha?_

"When did you say you received the Kyuubi?" she asked.

"Six years ago."

"I haven't heard of the demon fox going on a rampage in the last six years."

"No you haven't. Nobody has outside of Umou, but it happened. The ending of my story is that the elders researched the bijuu and found a better way to seal the Kyuubi and use its power. That method includes taking it from me by force, which would kill me."

They sat in silence for a minute, while Ino absorbed all of it.

"That Asuka girl was sent to kill you?"

"Asuka was sent to bring me back. She wasn't the only one either, she just moves the fastest. She got here first."

* * *

"No really, tell me!" Naruto demanded playfully. Hinata was still reeling from her own statement.

"_Still, you're amazing!" _Naruto had said._ "You've gotten much better in a short amount of time."_

"_I think _you're_ the amazing one, Naruto."_

"_Eh? What makes you say that?"_

He was still waiting on her answer.

"W-well, you never give up, no matter what."

"Huh?"

"You...you always fight seriously, even when it's not hat important. You don't do anything half-hearted."

"Really? Well, that's probably because I have to give my all to keep up with Sasuke when he's not even trying."

"But that's changing, right? You're getting stronger all the time."

Naruto grinned. "Thank you, Hinata."

She didn't know what to say, so they ate in silence for a few minutes.

Two booths away, a small storm was brewing. Sakura couldn't believe how...well their date seemed to be going.

---

"_Ha ha, that Naruto finally got himself a girlfriend!"_

You're too loud, _Sakura thought, hesitating outside the flaps._

"_She was quite a looker too, in that yukata."_

"_Eh? You're a lolicon!?"_

"_Gaah! No! I just...no, I..."_

"_Heh heh, don't worry about it. Naruto's done well to catch her, that's for sure."_

"_Oi, Jaren, you've been quiet for some time now. Something wrong?"_

_A third voice spoke for the first time. "I was just wondering...is it safe?"_

"_Now what could that mean?" the owner asked._

"_Do her parents know about them? Surely if they did then they wouldn't allow it."_

_Sakura heard nothing for a few seconds, then something slammed down onto the counter._

"_I'd trust Naruto with my life, before most other people in the village!" the old man said sharply._

"_Well maybe Naruto, but what about the Kyuubi inside him?"_

_---_

The stall had gone deathly quiet once again, but Sakura ran off before she could hear anything else.

_What__ about "the Kyuubi inside him?"_ she asked herself. She was interrupted by the waiter asking if she was ready to order.

"Oh, I'm sorry. One sec..." she opened the menu, then froze.

_I...don't have any money with me._

"Um, actually I'm waiting for someone," she lied, and the man went away.

* * *

"So what is it about Asuka?" Ino dared to ask. "You let her go when you could have just stopped her." For some reason, thinking about it was painful.

"I don't want to kill her! She's my sister."

"Eh!?" Painful feeling gone.

"You sound relieved somehow."

"No way!"

"..."

"...Well, yeah, I guess I am."

"Heh."

"So what're we going to do about her?"

Hiru was taken aback by her words. "I have no clue what _I'm_ going to do, but _you're_ going to roll over and go to sleep, instead of starting a conflict that would probably destroy my village."

"I..." Ino paused and thought about it. "...I can help without doing that. It's the whole point of being a ninja, isn't it?"

"Well yeah, but this is...different."

"That's not good enough. I'm going to help you."

"I don't like where this is going, and I need to get some rest anyway. I'll...see you later."

Hiru melted away, leaving Ino utterly exasperated.

* * *

After they were done eating, Naruto and Hinata wandered the streets of Konoha for a while. They talked and laughed and both were very surprised at how fun they were having. Sakura followed, also surprised at how much fun they were having. Whenever she tried to turn away and go home to eat, Hinata would trip and Naruto would catch her arm and _oooooh _she was pissed all over again. Or something like that anyway. A lot went through their heads that night, all three of them. Finally Hinata suggested they go someplace quiet and just talk some more and Naruto agreed.

"Things are really getting interesting," he said after flopping down on a grassy hilltop. He'd never known that Konoha had any grassy hilltops before, but the date had activated romantic-spot finding instincts deep within his psyche.

"Umm..." Hinata looked down at him nervously. Dress+grass=no-no.

"Oh, here." Naruto started taking off his orange jacket for her to sit on. Hinata blushed bright red.

Topless, he looked at it with a confused look on his face. "That's funny, I thought I was wearing another shirt under this.

Two girls mumbled as they stared at him.

---

"_Hiru-sensei, I quit!!! This is stupid!" the blond teen whined._

"_I'm pretty sure I asked you before, and you said you'd never quit."_

"_If it were normal training, that would be true," Shino answered him, "But we've been doing this for hours on end and getting no results whatsoever."_

"_Well if I were a normal instructor I'd have told you to rest every fifteen minutes, but then you'd all go and train some more when you get home, and __that's__ bad."_

"_If it's just getting stronger, there are lots of techniques out there," Kiba cut in. "What's so good about this one?"_

_Hiru turned his head, and they all followed his gaze to where Hinata was practicing. Smirking, he leaned in and whispered, "Well, for one thing it buffs you out."_

"_It does what?" Naruto asked stupidly._

"_Buffs you out! Makes your muscles bigger! Chicks dig the muscles, you know."_

_Naruto chuckled nervously, as the other two gave Hiru a look._

"_Sensei, you're...well, not 'buff' at all."_

_Hiru shuddered. "You shoulda' seen me before."_

_A moment of silence passed between them._

"_Maybe I'll keep at it a while longer."_

"_That's the spirit!"_

_---_

Maybe it was the Kyuubi's influence, but Naruto had seen a decent effect considering it had only been a few days.

_Holy cow! What's he been doing!?_ thought Sakura, while Hinata wondered if all boys got like that when they reached his age.

"Oh well, here." Naruto lay the jacket on the grass next to him. "Sit, sit!"

"O-okay." Hinata was nervous all over again.

_Have you no sense of awkward!?_ the pink haired girl wondered at him.

"Anyway, like I was saying, things are getting cool lately. I feel like I'm really improving with my jutsu and...well, just improving in general."

Hinata nodded.

Smiling at her, he added, "life is just getting better all around."

"Yeah," she said softly, looking down.

_What a disgusting atmosphere, _Sakura thought to herself yet again.

"Ahh, what a romantic atmosphere," a voice whispered next to her.

"Hiru!" she barely avoided shouting.

"I'm so happy you've remembered me!"

Turning, she saw the old peddler crouched uncomfortably close next to her.

"Oh, it's _you_."

"But...but you knew it was me! You cried my name!" he chuckled, and the sound was painful.

"Go away! I don't have time for you."

"Yes, I can see that. Why are you just sitting here while she takes your little crush away? You don't have a second to lose!"

**whack.**

Sakura punched him, hard. The shriveled old man tumbled backward, still cackling quietly.

"Yes, that's very good my dear. But I'm not the one you want to strike, am I?"

"Yes. Definitely."

"Ooh, I'm flattered. I was thought your 'fist of love' was reserved specially for Naruto-kun."

"I'm going to be a murderer," she mumbled to herself. "They'll say it was Jii-jii-cide."

"Oh, that's very funny."

Sakura decided that completely ignoring the old man was the best thing to do. She turned her attention back to Naruto and Hinata, trying to catch their conversation again.

"I've been wondering, Hinata-chan, are you ticklish?" asked a deep voice in a low whisper.

"Oh no...ha ha...noooo! Naruto-kun, not _there_!" It was the old man's teenage girl impression again.

"But, you agreed to come to this hilltop with me, so I thought..."

"Oh Naruto-kun, you already knew. I can't keep anything secret from _you_."

"QUIT IT!!!"

Up on the hill, Naruto's ears perked up. "Did you hear something just now?"

"I-I did, but I don't know what it was," Hinata answered. "Should I check using the byakugan?"

"Uhhh....no, I guess not. After all, we're still inside Konoha. It can't be anything serious."

Behind the tree, Sakura let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Why are you doing this?" she hissed at the old peddler.

"I like to watch things in motion," he said simply, and cracked a grin.

"Go away! NOW!!!"

"Okay, but first let me at least check on the 'product'."

"What product?"

"The product I sold you, of course!" he advanced towards her, flexing his fingers. "They seem to be off to a slow start, but I can tell that it's working!"

Sakura looked down. "You really think so? I was starting to get discour-" Cutting off, she started to tremble with incomprehensible rage.

"Goodbye!" Waving, the old man slipped a scroll out of his cloak and quickly summoned himself elsewhere.

Looking back at the hill, she realized she'd finally lost interest. "Let them have their little date...thing," she told herself bitterly. No, not bitterly, just sort of ticked-offedly. She wasn't mad or anything, just a tad annoyed was more like it. Yeah, that was it, 'a tad annoyed' that Naruto was on a date with another girl, after all the times he'd gone after her. If he'd really meant any of that stuff about liking her, it would have taken more than years of rejection and a permanent cold shoulder to make him move on. Well, that and the constant attempts on Sakura's part to hook up with the boy he considered his rival. Obviously, his crush on her had been just that, a crush that had no chance of going anywhere.

Thinking these things took Sakura as much time as walking home, and when she got back she jumped right into bed. She tried thinking about Sasuke until she went to sleep, and succeeded in dreaming about him. In her dream it was three years later, and a taller, even cooler version of Sasuke had come back to the village. Sakura ran out to meet him and they embraced, and everything was wonderful again. Sasuke offered to take her away from Konoha and live together with her. An older version of Naruto came up and held out his hand. The blond-haired teenager was very muscular now, she noted, but much shorter than Sasuke. Sasuke took his hand and shook it, sneering down at him.

Then the black-haired teen yanked Naruto around, thrust a chidori through his heart and tossed his corpse on the ground. Needless to say, the dream went downhill from there, but the next morning she couldn't remember the rest so it is pointless to describe it here.

* * *

Sakura shot up in bed, ready to defend herself. The scary part was, she didn't remember what she needed to defend herself _from_.

"Oh, right. Dream. That was scary...how did it go again?"

She was panting at first, but that soon stopped. Then her window shot open, and she jumped out of bed.

Well, fell out of bed. Her covers were wrapped around her enough that it didn't work.

"Sakura! We have to go!" It was Ino's voice.

"Wha?" the pink-haired girl asked from down on the floor.

"We...umm, what are you doing?"

"Nothing!" she rolled over and looked up at her friend. "My mattress is getting old and lumpy, so I decided to sleep on the floor last night.

"Oh...okay, I guess."

"So what's up?"

"Right! Come with me, Kiba got in a fight this morning!"

"But it _is_ morning."

Ino stared at her. Sakura looked at the clock.

It annoyed her when Ino told her the time right after she saw for herself. "It's eleven thirty. The morning's practically over."

"Oh. So, who'd Kiba fight with?"

"That Asuka chick! And he's hurt pretty bad!"

* * *

The Critic214:

Okay, serious note to all my readers.

At least, to all the readers who come back and see this.

I'm very sorry for stopping work on this story. It's not cool for you, I know. Here is my reason:

There comes a time in every man's life when he needs to drop everything else and work hard for what he cares about most. For me, that time pretty much came and went and I missed most of it. Now I have to work my butt off to pass Calc II and Econ, or they'll kick me out of Colorado School of Mines.

If I have to choose between updating this story and studying integrals for a test that will have a massive impact on the rest of my life, I don't really have to finish this statement do I?

However! I hope you will all set up email alerts for this story, because I'm not done with it. I know that from a Fanfiction point of view, 4 months is forever and it usually means the story is long dead and forgotten. But in the real world, 4 months is actually just a short break from any hobby, and it's not at all strange to go back to it after that much time. This is me going back to "The Peddler comes to Konoha." I hope that if any of you are still around, you will come back and review again, let me know that my efforts are not pointless.

And on that note, I'm ready to write this story for the right reason: because I want to write it. I talked to a published author friend of mine and he told me that people write because they have a story and they're unhappy with it stuck inside their head. He said "writer's block" sometimes happens because you've gone over a story in your head until you're happy with it: you don't mind if it never gets written because you've figured it out for yourself. I do this a lot, and I only write because I get reviews. Then I get selfish and I tell myself that if the reviews stop, so will I. Well, this time I'm going to write even if I don't get a single review! I've got potential story-lines in my head and on paper that go past chapter 20- something, and I want to write them out.

And so, this chapter has many connections to the next, which is actually half written already. This is to force myself to finish chapter 12 and post it in the next week at the very latest.

Next Chapter: Fang vs. Talon.


	12. Talon vs Claw

**Chapter 12: Fang vs Talon**

Kiba's breath was slow: in....out, in....

...

_...wait for it..._

...out. Meditation was so boring! His mind wandered to the move he'd been learning from Hiru.

---

"_Tonight you should teach us _your_ fighting style!" Naruto declared._

"_I don't know, it's dangerous if you don't get it right."_

"_Do you think that changes our minds at all?" Shino commented._

_Hiru was taken aback._

"_Well, okay. The jutsu comes in levels, but I'll just teach you the first one."_

"_Fair enough."_

"_Okay, here's the concept: suppose your body releases 10 points of chakra every second. In two seconds, you get 20 points to work with. Normally, if you only use 9 points of chakra one second, you're still limited to 10 the next second. But with this technique, you can get your chakra lines to store the extra point of chakra and produce 11 units on the second second."_

_Naruto almost looked like he understood. "Right, the second second."_

_Hiru sighed. "It's like your chakra is water coming out of a hose. If you pinch the hose and get no water at all one second, when you release it the next second twice as much water as usual will shoot out the hose."_

"_Oh!"_

"_That sounds nice," Shino commented, "But you're right, it also sounds dangerous. Chakra lines aren't meant to work that way."_

"_They're surprisingly okay with it, if you train them over a long period of time. If you _do_ damage them they're guaranteed to heal over time."_

"_This is good," Kiba said out of nowhere. "I like it, I'm gonna learn this."_

"_Well duh," Naruto shot back, grinning. Shino gave him a look that said the same._

_---_

Still meditating, Kiba also remembered sneaking in to see Akamaru again.

"_Eat it."_

_Somehow, Akamaru got the message. The dog licked the tiny pill into his mouth and shuddered._

"_Come on!"_

_**gulp...bleah!**_

"_Yeah, I know it tasted bad. Good boy! I'll see you later!"_

_---_

Suddenly Kiba caught a strange scent.

_Who could it be?_

For a few moments, he meditated on it, trying to remember...

"_Idiot!"_

"Woah, it's that girl!" His eyes shot open.

**Whack.**

"Focus on your meditation, boy!"

"Sorry grandpa, I need to be done for the day!"

The old geezer looked down at him with a withering glare. "Care to ask that again?"

The teen flinched, but didn't back down. "I've meditated enough, and I just caught the scent of a cute girl I met the other day."

The man was actually stunned for half a second. Stroking his white beard, he looked thoughtful. "Well, that may be a better reason than I expected..."

"Thanks. I'll just be-"

"But! It's no excuse to neglect your training! Need I remind you that you've skipped your meditation every day this week!? If you were planning to go on a date, you should have thought about the consequences!"

"But this is boring, and you only teach me really old jutsus. Hiru-sensei teaches me stuff that was invented _this_ decade."

_Oops._

"Hiru...sensei?" His grandfather's eyebrow arches until it looked painful. "Just who might that be?"

"A...traveling peddler...jutsu peddler..." Kiba mumbled, looking off to the side.

"I only know one man named 'Hiru,' and I sincerely hope your 'Hiru' isn't even a distant relative of that person. You certainly won't be seeing him again either way."

"Now hold on!" Kiba started, then remembered the scroll in his room. _Maybe that's why Hiru has such a secret way of meeting us,_ he wondered.

"Oh well, doesn't matter," he said to the old man. "I've learned better stuff the past few nights than what _you've_ taught me since I was a baby."

"Don't you _dare_ speak poorly about the Inuzuka clan's core jutsu!" the old man tried to roar. At his age, it came out less impressive than he meant.

Kiba's eyes widened. "No, wait, you don't have to-"

"Since long before you were born, our clan has honed these skills. Not just because they were 'useful' or 'powerful,' but because they were _necessary_. Our sole purpose was to speed communication between leaders and shinobi units, and to survive we had to make sure that _our_ lines were better than those of the Sakazaki clan.

_He started. If I'm not careful, it could be hours before he's finished. Why is Grandpa so wound up against a clan that doesn't even exist anymore._

The old man looked him in the eye. "I know exactly what you're thinking. 'Why do I have to learn how to fight against enemies we've already defeated?' hm?"

"Well, honestly yeah."

"You don't understand, boy! Those accursed bird users never gave us an inch unless we fought for it. Your great-grandfather died fighting them, as did his father and grandfather. Everywhere Senju went, we followed, and found that Uchiha and Sakazaki were already lined up against us all over again. Those were dark times, and out of them came these techniques I've been teaching you! They were invented by the blood of your ancestors!"

"That's great, you know!" Kiba raised his voice. "So my ancestors spent their time fighting some other clan. I still don't owe them my life or anything. I think you're just mad that you didn't get to avenge your dad."

The old man's face darkened for a moment. Then he actually smiled, albeit grimly. "You bet I'm mad!" Kiba honestly couldn't tell if his voice was bitter or gleeful. "I was all ready to fight against the Sakazaki clan, trained myself numb unlike yourself. Then word reached us that the Sakazaki clan was no more. Got done in by their own Uchiha allies." his gaze wandered as he remembered. "They say it only took three hours for every Sakazaki man, woman, and child to fall against those eyes."

Kiba frowned outwardly, but smirked inwardly. _Well, it worked. Looks like this trip down memory lane only took five minutes. Next time I'll try to make it three._

Slowly, he got to his feet and brushed himself off. "The Sakazaki clan used mostly genjutsu, right?" He started to back away.

His grandfather snapped back to reality. "What? Oh, yes they did. Deadly against us, worthless against Uchiha of course." Then his gaze started to wander again and Kiba took a deep breath.

"I heard a falcon's cry a few nights back," the old man said suddenly, looking at him. "Woke me up right away. I was halfway into my shinobi fatigues when your grandmother stopped me. Times sure have changed."

"Yeah," Kiba muttered, and started the jutsu. He stood up straight and locked his knees, balancing himself until it required very little effort to stay standing. Then he quickened his breathing and slowed his chakra, and felt that wave of dizzyness he just couldn't get rid of yet.

"Oi, what're you doing? Your chakra's acting mighty strange my boy. Then Kiba jumped. Several seconds later he landed a decent distance away. He immediately picked up the girl's scent again and started to follow it.

* * *

Kiba passed through the gates to Konoha and kept going. The two guards had no orders regarding him, after all. After a while he began to suspect he knew where the trail led. This was quickly confirmed when he recognized the clearing he'd been visiting at night.

He smacked his forehead. "Oh shoot! Maybe I just got her mixed up with Hiru-sensei. They do smell alike."

A twig snapped nearby, and he whirled to face it.

_Nix that, she's here. Hiru would just come out and say hi._

Kiba walked nonchalantly to one of the large trees. His nose sifted furiously through the crisscrossing scents all over the clearing. He turned and leaned against the tree, then breathed deeply.

A second later he shot away from the tree, straight at where the sound had been before. Just as he'd guessed, the girl had frozen after making it. Catching her completely off-guard, he snagged both her wrists and thrust her back against a tree, pinning her arms above her head.

The girl stared up at him for a second, and he stared back.

_She has really beautiful eyes,_ he couldn't help noticing.

Kiba gulped, trying to think of something to say. She tried to shift her arms slightly, testing him. He felt the pressure, but was obviously too strong for her. Then she pursed her lips and all his thoughts flew out the window.

He threw back his head and howled. Chakra inside his throat modulated the sound until it sounded like an entire pack of wolves was trying to deafen somebody. After a few seconds of this, he turned his head away from her and coughed. His mind started racing again.

_Jutsu #4: chakra howl. The enemy will often communicate with each other and their familiars using a series of high-pitched whistles. This move was invented to drown out the noise and disrupt their communications._

It was from Gramps' ancient collection. Kiba had been forced to learn it at age 5, but he hadn't practiced it in ages. When he looked back at his captive, she had a totally new look on her face. It was curiosity, slowly melting into bitterness.

"Who were you trying to signal?" he demanded.

For the first time since he'd bumped into her, she spoke. "Don't worry, I think she got the message."

Kiba looked away to hide the fact that he was blushing. _Her voice, it's so clear and sweet! ...wait, what'd she say?_

He pushed back from the tree with all his might, just in the nick of time. A falcon suddenly dove between them, its talons sifting the air where his arms had been. The element of surprise exhausted, the bird swung around anyway and let out a piercing scream as it charged again. Kiba did a back-flip to dodge it, landing in a crouch. He noticed the bird had the exact same scent as the girl, it would be impossible to tell them apart with smells.

The girl took her time, slowly lowering her arms and rubbing her wrists. Kiba thought he saw a tinge of blush on her face at first, but he could've imagined it. She raised an arm, and the falcon came and perched on it. She must have been using chakra to keep its talons from mincing her bare skin.

"Well, I get to see you again," Kiba managed with a smile. "Although this isn't how I pictured it. What are you doing sneaking around here?"

"Looking for someone. It doesn't involve you."

"If you're looking for Hiru-sensei, then it does."

The girl looked a little uncomfortable. "What's your connection to Hiru?"

"I'm his student, I guess. And his friend."

She scoffed. "His friend? Look, Hiru is a murderer and I'm going to kill him. Don't get in my way."

Kiba sighed. "After hearing that, of course I'm going to get in your way!"

"Then die." For a split second it looked like Asuka was falling forward, then she flew straight at him.

Her chakra pulse was smoother than his had been, but he was ready. He leaped up and over her, rolling in midair and grabbing a smoke bomb from his pouch.

_Wait, where's the falcon!?_

A sudden burst of smoke surrounded him. Asuka watched carefully as he landed, rolling up into a crouch. A few droplets of blood seeped from a cut on his cheek, and he wiped it away.

"You crushed the smoke bomb in your hands," she analyzed. "You're obviously from the Inuzuka clan, so where's your dog?"

Kiba grinned. "Right here!"

He whipped out the temporary scroll he was using and slapped it on the ground under his hand. A puff of smoke and Akamaru was there, wagging his tail.

Asuka looked shocked. "It's...it's really small."

Kiba frowned. "He's big enough. And he'll get bigger."

**((A/N This story is entirely pure and clean. If, like my proofreading friend, you think those two lines are bad, you are a horrible, horrible person.))**

Anyway," the girl continued. Her falcon landed on her shoulder and glared daggers at him. "This should be an interesting fight.

"Yeah," Kiba replied. "I wonder what Gramps would say if he knew there were still some of you left." Straightening up, he smiled at her. "Wanna be friends?"

Asuka just glared at him. "Are you serious? The Inuzuka/Sakazaki rivalry is legendary."

"It's also over. Long before either of us were born."

"It isn't over! My people suffered the ultimate betrayal, while yours grew fat on the success of their allies!"

"That really has nothing to do with me."

She was stunned for a moment. "Nothing to do with...that's unforgivable! If that's the case, then I'll take this opportunity and let all of Inuzuka know we still remember them!" She crouched in a fighting stance.

"But...you don't remember us!" he protested weakly.

The bird sprang from her shoulder as Asuka charged him.

"Man-beast clone!" the Kiba's split up and dashed to the side, ready to strike when she came to a stop.

"Gatsuuga!" Two whirlwnds of claws homed in and attacked her scent. When they released the attack, Kiba and Akamaru studied what was left: a long silver feather cut into little pieces.

_Crap! She's using the bird's feathers to trick us!_

_**Blam! **__Akamaru tackled him from the side as Asuka struck from above. A ribbon of blood sailed from the dog's ankle, and he whimpered._

"_Akamaru!" the kiba-clone stumbled, and he saw a deep gash on its leg. Before he could react, he heard a whizzing sound and something flashed in the light._

_Wires!_ he realized, and panicked. A set of them snapped tight around Akamaru's stomach. Then something tugged hard on them, separating the clone into two pieces.

"NOO!!!" Kiba screamed, dashing over. Lying there, Akamaru transformed back into a dog. When the teen reached out a hand, Akamaru snapped at it.

"Game over," he heard the girl say. Something sharp and metallic tapped the back of his neck.

"Aka...maru?" Kiba didn't really care. The dog had hardly made a sound since the fatal attack. He reached out again, desperately.

"Wait," Asuka began, but it was too late. Akamaru quickly bit down on his hand, forcing chakra into him and dispelling the genjutsu.

"Huh?"

Akamaru lay before him, completely whole. Unfortunately, there was still a knife poking him.

"Tch, you broke it," he heard her say behind him. "But it's too late anyway. Take me to Hiru." She pressed the blade harder to reinforce the order.

"Thanks Akamaru," he mumbled. Then he slackened, preparing to use chakra pulse. Asuka shoved the blade at his neck, but the soft hair he had there hardened instantly and stood on end, deflecting the blow. He jumped away a split second later.

"Dogs know their own weaknesses," he growled at her from across the clearing.

A smoke bomb exploded at her feet, obscuring her for a moment.

"Gatsuuga!" he shouted and Akamaru joined him in attacking the cloud.

_Special scented smoke. With this, I'll be able to find her easily for the rest of the battle._

As expected, he felt a feather being diced between his claws. When the smoke cleared, he saw that this feather looked normal instead of silver, and apparently had no genjutsu buried within it.

"Again!" he called to Akamaru, and this time they honed straight in on Asuka. She cried out as he plowed into her midsection. He tried very hard not to hit any major organs, but you can only pull so many punches when you're a whirlwind of claws. After a second, though, she disappeared completely. Kiba spun to a stop and sniffed furiously. He smelled her somewhere above.

The falcon screamed, announcing its presence. He barely had time to jump to the side as the hair clip in the bird's talons transformed back into Asuka and she slashed down at him with a kunai.

Akamaru swung in from behind her and delivered a vicious punch to her back. She stumbled forward, coughed once, and looked up to glare at him. Kiba felt terrible.

"Listen, let's not finish this."

"No, let's. Come, Eve!" The bird swept down and landed on her shoulder, and Asuka started making seals. "Man-bird clone!"

Kiba watched in dismay. The girl didn't grow actual wings, but hundreds of feathers poked out from under her hair, her eyes grew cold, and her fingernails extended longer and sharper than even his own.

"Here's what Sakuzaki has learned from our mistakes," she cried with a raspy voice. "Trust NOBODY!"

Eve the falcon sprang up into the air again, but something was different. The bird was...molting like crazy. Hundreds of feathers fell behind it, tracing its path through the air. Asuka ran towards him, and he saw that feathers were streaming from her hair as well. He evaded her claws for a moment, then jumped back. "Akamaru, let's go! Gatsuuga!!!"

Asuka stepped to the side, and they both flew right past her. Turning, both whirlwinds approached her again and went wide. Up above, the falcon continued to circle and spread feathers around the clearing.

"What's going on?" Kiba asked when he ground to a halt. Every single feather carried a different scent, it seemed.

"This is the new strength of the Sakazaki clan. You'll find it far outclasses anything your pitiful dog clan can come up with."

"Akamaru, let's go!" Kiba called desperately. They both unleashed their chakra at its highest level. "TWIN HEADED WOLF!!!" was the last thing he said before the transformation began.

The moment Kiba began the jutsu, Asuka smirked and did a few seals of her own. By now, the ground was covered with feathers. They stuck in the branches of trees and piled around her feet. Reaching down, she grabbed a fistful of them before straightening up. A few seconds later they started to glow, then she opened her hand palm up and one by one the feathers lifted off on their own. To complete the ritual, Asuka snatched them up again, held both hands high, and in one fluid motion she brought them down to strike the ground. A shockwave seemed to go out from her, but in reality only the feathers moved. The next second thousands of them rose off of the ground and pointed their quills at the giant wolf.

_I see,_ the Inuzuka teen thought to himself.

* * *

The old peddler started awake and looked frantically around.

"Why, I haven't had a good sleep like that since..."

"Since the last time I was here?" a low voice said nearby. Druj was leaning against a tree a few feet away.

"Yes, you're right." The old man eyed him suspiciously.

"Well, if you're up then I'm off." The Anbu stepped forward and stretched.

"I really don't understand you anymore, Druj-kun," old Hiru said suddenly. "Thought I wouldn't see you again, after you treated young Hiru the way you did."

"..."

"You had your reasons, I understand," he continued. "But why are you still helping _me_? We're in this together, young Hiru and I."

Finally, Druj spoke. His voice was husky with some unknowable emotion. "The Hiru I knew was completely incapable of handling this situation. To be blunt, he would have ended up killing my niece because he wasn't able to seclude himself when he needed to."

"Perhaps that is true," the peddler replied darkly.

"However, this Hiru you have brought me is infinitely more mature than his previous self. Please tell him I am sorry for my rash actions."

"I will indeed." The old man's smile cracked open to let out a tortured-sounding laugh.

"I have to say, your body is hideous these days," Druj commented.

"Ahh, don't mock me, little boy," old Hiru chided, "You know just what I can look like, but these days Young Hiru needs every ounce of chakra he can get."

He pulled open his tunic slightly to reveal a pendant around his neck: a small silver dragon coiled protectively around a spherical jewel. It pulsated lightly every few seconds, emitting a rich green glow.

"I've been meaning to ask you about that." The Anbu stepped forward to examine it. "How is it that the village is so sharply divided between despising Hiru and ignoring him?"

"Just like that? Well, since you asked, the Kyuubi resides within Hiru."

Druj froze.

"What?"

The Anbu turned to look the peddler in the eye, but otherwise stayed frozen.

"What is it!? Surely it doesn't come as much of a shock."

"That _would_ explain the division, old man."

The peddler bristled at the use of 'old man' this time. "What on earth do you mean?"

"I mean that those in our village who despise Hiru believe he has the Kyuubi, while those who ignore him know that he does not."

This time the peddler froze. "What?" he repeated.

"The Kyuubi's vessel has been living in Konoha since the attack over a decade ago. I have sorted the records myself."

"That was three years before Hiru's exile," breathed the old man. "How can this be!?"

"Maybe Hiru knows." Druj pointed at the dragon necklace.

"No, that boy can't lie to me. In fact, neither can the elders of Umou. If what you say is true...this goes much deeper." A series of lines crisscrossed the peddler's forehead as he concentrated. It occurred to Druj that on a normal person, the lines are supposed to be parallel, and the idea made him shudder.

"We'll just have to ask him when he wakes up," he offered.

"If we get the chance," old Hiru said grimly. "I need to meet this 'other' Kyuubi host right away."

"I believe you already have."

* * *

"Ugh." Kiba drew his hand away from his shoulder and shuddered at the sight of his own blood. He had long since come out of the Twin-Headed wolf formation, as it was impossible to dodge the feathers in that form. Now he was reduced to running around in circles while the Tsume-nin watched from a tree branch. A swarm of feathers made reaching her impossible right now.

"You still haven't answered my question!" he demanded, "What did Hiru do!?" He'd been trying to negotiate non-stop for almost half the battle now, to no avail.

She sneered down at him. "I have nothing to say to you. Just keep dodging, that's all you have to worry about." A wave of her hand and a flurry of the feathers flew at him from the side.

"I'm getting pretty tired of this!" he announced, dodging to the side. Akamaru whimpered from inside his jacket.

"How's it going, boy?"

The dog was silent for a moment, then barked twice.

"Alright! Do it!"

Akamaru nosed into his pocket and chomped the soldier pill. A second later he leaped out of the coat and turned bright red.

The girl jumped down to the ground and stood glaring at him. "Baka! Don't you get it!? You lost a long time ago, I'm just giving you a chance to surrender!"

Kiba made a handful of seals before grinning at her. "Funny, that's exactly what I was about to say."

Her eyes widened for a second before she swung her arms up. The entire clearing-worth of feathers rose as well.

After recovering from a few small puncture wounds, Akamaru had been storing chakra for the next big jutsu. The fur on his back grew until it was about a foot long. Meanwhile, Kiba's hair turned cream-colored and grew until it would have been halfway down his back, except it stuck straight out behind him. His eyes became the same color, and the marks on his cheeks changed color until they were red with a black border.

"Come, Akamaru!" he shouted. The transformation made his voice deeper, so that it boomed throughout the clearing.

_Wow. _Asuka wavered for an instant before shaking off the effect and directing her feathers at him.

Akamaru dashed over just as the barrage began. The dog rammed Kiba in the back, and they both hit the dirt just as a flurry of death homed in on them.

"NOW!" In an instant, Kiba and Akamaru's long hair seemed to explode. The next instant, she saw that a single hair had punctured every single feather above them.

"RAAH!!!" Kiba and Akamaru roared as one, and the feathers melted under a barrage of chakra coming up the white and red hairs. Kiba slowly got to his feet, Akamaru still clinging to his back.

"Want to help me name a new jutsu?" he asked with his still-enhanced voice.

"Only if you can beat me with it," the girl countered.

"Fair enough. Defend yourself!"

Asuka flinched backward and whistled. The next second Kiba launched himself at her so fast she had no time to react. The falcon appeared out of nowhere to claw at his face, granting her a momentary reprieve.

Frantically, she started making seals. In front of her, Kiba turned his face away from the bird and Akamaru drove it off with chakra-filled hair.

"Eve!"

The falcon flew over in an instant, perching on her shoulders. "Sky-Predator's Form!" she cried and smoke enveloped them both. It was swept away a moment later as she took flight on a pair of massive wings.

Kiba wasted no time, launching himself after her. Their claws met in midair, and she deflected him downward. Spinning, he allowed Akamaru to lash out at her again while he readied for yet another chakra pulse.

The kick was so fast and hard, it threatened to knock Asuka unconscious immediately. Her eyes glazed over for a second as Eve took control of her body and flew higher.

_What insane strength. It's like Hiru's..._ she thought as he fell back to earth.

"Let's keep it up Akamaru!" Kiba boomed when he had landed. His opponent was high in the air, and was just now starting to molt again. The dog barked in agreement, although it was muffled by the shock of red and white hair. Relaxing, he started the move to jump back up to attack the girl again.

_Gotta be careful about those feathers. She knows I'm fighting by scent._

An instant later he shot up at her. Asuka saw him coming, but still wasn't accustomed to his speed. He landed a punishing blow on her shoulder, sending her toward the ground. Following, he found a stream of scented feathers left to confuse him.

"Die!" a voice shrieked. The girl was practically a blur as she attacked, but he still managed to block. They traded blows furiously, and Kiba had a definite advantage.

_Why can't I hit him!? _the Tsume-nin thought frantically. It felt like she was fighting Hiru again, so familiar...

Then it hit her: the chakra pulse!

Kiba watched grimly as she sailed back from his punch. She hit a tree, and her wings "shattered" into a thousand feathers. The falcon took to the sky immediately, circling her protectively and glaring daggers at him.

_He's mastered the second level? No, that's impossible. There must be another explanation. _Groaning, she slumped forward to look at him.

Kiba saw the look on her face and faltered. She was no longer glaring at him, in fact she was back to the curiosity he saw when he first pinned her arms to the tree. "Good job, Akamaru," he grunted.

"The dog! So that's how you did it!" Asuka had almost forgotten the fight in her moment of discovery. "You took turns using chakra pulse, so each cycle only took half as long as usual."

"Yeah, worked pretty well didn't it? Now, like you promised you have to help me name it."

The girl suddenly remembered her position and glared at him again. "It doesn't really count," she mumbled, "because you won using a move from outside the Inuzuka clan."

"Hey!" Kiba strode over to her, a look of mischief on his face. "Don't be a sore loser." he leaned down and offered her a hand. The falcon must have noticed his lack of killing intent, because it didn't try to remove said hand from his arm.

The Kunoichi stared up at him for a long moment, then actually blushed. She didn't move though, and he started to feel embarrassed at holding his hand out for so long.

With a whine, Akamaru slipped off of his back and the dog's fur started to shorten. Kiba's hair also retreated and became darker until it was black again. He felt something pinch in his chest, but figured it was just a feather wound.

Actually, he felt a lot of feather wounds now. More and more parts of his body started to protest, and he wondered just how many times he'd been hit.

The girl chose that moment to snap out of her reverie, and slowly reached up to take his hand. He trembled slightly, but had enough presence of mind to pull her to her feet. She sighed.

"Well, I guess I'd better start thinking up a name then." She gave him a small smile and he felt himself blushing.

"No hurry. In fact, we have a lot of more important things to talk about first." Despite saying this, Kiba felt dizzy. He just wanted to lie down and rest. He could hear Akamaru whimpering.

"Is something wrong?"

_Ahh, her voice really is clear._ The leaf-nin closed his eyes to savor them, and before he knew it he was falling forward.

"Kyaa!" **thump.**

Kiba was dimly aware that he'd just plowed into her and was now lying on top.

"Get off!" The girl's voice took on a tinge of anger again as she shoved him to the side.

"Gaah!" he couldn't help an outburst of pain. She seemed to catch on quickly.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. "...wait. When did you learn the chakra-pulse?"

"Ugh. A few days ago, why?" Kiba cracked his eyes open and saw a look of utter horror on her face.

"You haven't had your 'backlash' yet! And you used it in a fight!? What's my brother thinking!?"

"He's probably thinking I wouldn't use it for a week like he told me."

"Baka! You could really die!!!"

_She's so worried about me. Cute!_

"Eve!" The falcon immediately flew off in the direction of the village. Meanwhile Akamaru had come over and was whining loudly.

"Hey..." he started to say. Then a wave of pain shot up his spine.

**Lub-dub.**

"I've got to get you medical attention," she was saying.

_That, or slit my throat. What kind of enemy shinobi are you? _Kiba wondered.

"Hey, wait," he said weakly.

"Shut up!" she barked. "Talking will make you worse!"

"I'll be fine!" he mustered his strength. "Listen, I gotta ask-"

**LUB-DUB! **"AGH!"

"Ask it later!"

"What's your name?"

The girl looked down at him with a very strange look. Some combination of suspicion, worry, and underlying embarrassment and she pulled them all off at the same time.

"It's Asuka. Sakazaki Asuka."

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A/N There is my chapter. It's done now. I wanted to finish it on Friday, but it became Saturday two hours back. I'm gonna go sleep now.

But first, I'll pump out a quick commentary!

It was interesting in this chapter because Kiba didn't know Asuka's name, but I couldn't just call her "her" and "she" the whole time. Since my natural writing style is to shift around the scene, I used Asuka's name whenever it felt like "the camera" was over by her, and called her "the girl" whenever it was closer to Kiba. On the one hand, I'm very proud of my natural ability to do this, but on the other hand I find it difficult to write actions scenes from a single POV and even harder to write them from a neutral one.

Let's see, I wanted to add as a note that Hiru has a theme song! Even though he didn't appear in this chapter...

Anyway, I listened to the song "better off alone" a lot when I was developing his character and I think I can officially say that it's his song. I should get songs for my other OC's, I've noticed that connecting things to them makes it easier to define your character's personalities.

Now, let's look to the future of this story. I intend to go back and clean my chapters, as I just recently noticed a lot of small errors/parts I want to improve a bit. That, and a few chapters completely lost their

* * *

breaks. Don't know when that happened, did I really not notice this whole time? Anyway, you should be able to tell where they go but I'll insert them anyway.

Also, I'm gonna write the scene where Ino and Hiru meet, I ended up skipping past it in favor of other plotlines but I think they really do need more development as a couple. What I want you people to tell me is, should I try to somehow to splice it into the existing chapters, or should I go ahead and make it a separate oneshot, like I'm thinking of doing. Also, how much do you want it? I'd like to write it parallel, but to be honest I have exams coming up and I just won't be able to do them both. So leave me reviews! Tell me if you want the main story to proceed or if I should switch my effort to the Hiru/Ino scene temporarily. I WILL finish ONE of them by SUNDAY November 30, after that I'll try to keep up one chapter a week but my grades come first.

Thank you for reading my story, and if you've reviewed then I thank you more than all the people who haven't reviewed. If we were in a room together I'd give you all a smile but the reviewers a bigger smile than the rest of you. If we were on a sinking ship I'd help you all to the lifeboats but I'd get the reviewers on first. If all of you suddenly came to me and asked for a million dollars I'd turn you all down, but I'd be more polite when turning down the reviewers, etc. It's 2 am, I got more.

Review.


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